Forever?
by x3hellokitty
Summary: Before the Great Prophecy there were three demigods; as dictated by the Fates they found each other. Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and later Nico di Angelo. They struggled to survive, but when they finally get to camp they get sucked into a world none of them asked for; one of gods and inescapable prophecies that test the meaning of the word forever. AU. Thalico. Future Percabeth.
1. Hello

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever? **

A/N: I don't own PJO or HoO, please review! i'm already finished with the first few chapters, so the faster you review the faster i upload!

Chapter 1 - Hello

I cowered behind a bush. I cried pitifully as I clutched a small hammer in my hand.

"Little demigod, where are you? I want to play." The Cyclops called out looking for me.

I tried to blend into the shadows; they seemed to cover me a little more. Suddenly I heard a loud bellow and a crunching sound. Something stepped a little too close to my hiding spot and I squeaked. I sprang out of my hiding spot crying, "No more, no more monsters."

I swung my hammer around blindly, trying to contact the monsters flesh. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted off the ground, I screamed loudly. I knew it was over, so I squeezed my eyes tighter. I was concentrating so hard on trying to get away, but I knew it'd be worse if I let go of my weapon. I panicked and tried to pull the shadows toward me as I had learned to do in the past few days on my own. Suddenly I felt a cold rush of air and a falling sensation. I gasped in surprise as I landed on a bush with a loud thump. I peeked my eyes open and looked around. I tilted my head to the side, _wha…?_ _I'm on the other side of the clearing…_I scrunched up my face in confusion.

Before I could act upon my bewilderment I heard a few voices. I blinked; it's been awhile since I've heard other humans talk. The last voice I heard was that horrible one eyed creature…I shuddered violently. I got on my hands and knees and crawled towards the two voices. I peeked out of the bush, careful to keep the shadows over my face.

A tall blonde girl with curly hair turned around in a circle. She seemed confused. I heard her ask where "he" went. I wonder who he was. I also wondered where they ugly monster was. I also heard her say something about demigod powers? Shadow travel? And Hades?…I remember my mom talking about someone named Hades. Maybe this girl knew my mommy…I miss her. The one eyed person got her…it was scary. He got my sister too…Bianca…I cried. I wanted my sister, I wanted my mommy. I didn't want to be alone anymore. Maybe the tall girl could help me. I crawled out from my bush.

"Miss? Did you say Hades…?" I asked, tearfully.

She turned around with a knife in her hand and I screamed and dove back into the bush. Suddenly I heard another voice; I must have not seen this person the first time I looked. She yelled at the scary girl for being so mean. I could feel her come closer to me. I cowered into my hiding place before she spoke to me.

"Little boy, its okay. You can come out, we're good guys! My name is Thalia, I'm nine! We can be friends, we won't hurt you. I promise." The girl sounded happy. I peeked out and eyed her carefully. She had spiky black hair and bright blue eyes. She looked safe enough. I stood up and she giggled and pointed at my head. I reached up; _ew_ _there's something on my head_ I thought. I reached up to pull it off but the girl beat me to it. I scowled at her, only my mommy could do that.

She reached out her hand, "So I already said my name, who are you?"

I looked at her timidly before reaching out to shake her hand. "N-N-Nico," I stammered out. She smiled, "That's a nice name. So did you ask about Hades?"

I coughed and took a step back, just in case she pulled out a knife too. I looked past the black haired girl to see the tall one behind her. I was still scared, she could've hurt me! Thalia turned around and smiled, "That's just Annabeth; she's alright once you get to know her. She takes care of me. She's OLD, she's like thirteen! Speaking of old, how old are you Nico? And it's ok to talk to us, we know about the gods too! We're just like you."

I looked at her strangely, "Gods?"

Thalia looked confused, "I thought you said you kne…uh nevermind, so how old are you?"

"Seven…I'll be eight in a few months," I whispered. I was still confused, "Gods?"

The tall girl rolled her big gray eyes, "I always find the twerps." She knelt down next to me and I flinched. "Nico, right? I'm sorry I scared you; I thought you were another monster. It was crazy how you disappeared like that. Can I ask you something Nico?"

She sounded nicer without the knife in her hand. I looked at her sheath warily before looking at Thalia, who nodded encouragingly. I braced myself and nodded.

"Where are your parents Nico? And why did you ask me about Hades?"

I looked at the floor and kicked at a rock on the ground. Sniffling I spoke softly, "The monster killed my mommy and sister…I ran away. My mommy said my daddy's name was Hades, but I never met my daddy. Mommy says he was too busy working. I guess he forgot about me…I wasn't good enough for him to remember." I sobbed.

Suddenly I was pulled into warm arms, which made me cry harder. They reminded me of Bianca. Annabeth hummed for me, calming me down. Thalia patted me on the back as I cried.

"It's ok Nico," I heard Thalia "I know what its like. I never met my daddy either. But we have each other now." I smiled, that was the best thing I've heard in days. I hung on to Annabeth now, not wanting to let go of the closest thing I had to an adult. I felt her stand up.

"Ok Neeks, let's take you to our camp. You're with us now," she told me before muttering to herself. "Son of the Big Three. Hah, I'm a power magnet. First daughter of Zeus, now a son of Hades. Next thing you'll know I'll run into a sea child. I don't get why I get stuck fighting all the monsters for these guys, I'm just Athena's kid."

She looked back at me and smiled, "We'll explain everything when you're settled in and had something to eat." I nodded quietly. I looked over Annabeth's shoulder at Thalia. She was skipping behind Annabeth and picking random flowers. She seemed so happy; electrifying. The opposite of me really, I was always so shy and timid. _I guess we could be friends, _I thought to myself. Thalia gasped as she accidently fried a butterfly that landed on her finger. I coughed trying to cover up my laugh. She scowled at me, _I guess I didn't cover it up well enough._ I blinked at her innocently before placing my chin on Annabeth's shoulder.

A little while later I felt myself being put back on the floor. I looked around at the small camp. There was two little tents nestled into the underbrush, one red and one blue. I looked up at Annabeth who was rubbing her neck. She noticed my stare and grinned, "Welcome to our humble abode! The red tent is mine, but you and Thalia can share the blue one. It'll have to do until I can find a way to get another tent. I'm not exactly a child of Hermes."

I looked at her puzzled.

"Oh right, you don't know about the gods yet."

I blushed and mumbled half to myself, "Sorry…I don't mean to be trouble."

Thalia grinned, "No problem Nicky! I was just as confused when Annabeth found me last year."

I looked at her funny, it seemed like the two had been together for longer than that, but I guess it made sense. Thalia looked at Annabeth hopefully, "Story time?"

Annabeth nodded before sitting down on the floor. She grabbed a handful of leaves and a match before making a small fire. "I'll make us some dinner as I talk. I'm sure you're hungry Nico." She looked at me expectantly, so I nodded. "Well, first of all. My name is Annabeth Chase; I'm the daughter of Athena. She's the Greek goddess of wisdom, crafts, justice, and battle strategy. Before you ask, yes; the Greek gods are real, they always have been. They're immortal, that means they never die. Every now and then they fall in love with a normal person, and have us. We're demigods, half human, and half god. We have different powers or abilities depending on our godly parent." She glanced at me as I looked at her with big eyes. I was young, so the words were a little hard to understand, but I think I understood what she meant.

"Anyways, these monsters, like the Cyclops you saw, they can smell us. Especially powerful demigods like you and Thalia. There is 12 Olympian gods; they're the most powerful of the gods. My mom is an Olympian, and so is Thalia's. Her dad is Zeus, the Greek god of the sky. He's the king of all gods. Thalia's only nine, so her powers aren't very stable, but from the looks of it she's pretty shocking. Literally. She can control lightning," Annabeth laughed. I glanced over at Thalia who was lying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air. _Wow…_I wished I could control lightning like Thalia.

"What...what about my dad?" I asked Annabeth. She smiled sadly at me.

"You're dad isn't an Olympian. But he's very powerful, one of the Big Three. They are the most powerful gods: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus controls the sky; Poseidon the water; and Hades the Underworld. That's why you could shadow travel."

I cocked my head to the side, "Shadow travel?"

"When you move through the shadows, it's like teleporting. It's how you got away from me the first time. Did you ever notice the shadows tend to follow you around?" I nodded, finally understanding. I smiled and looked over at the tents behind Annabeth. She turned around, finding my gaze.

"Yea, they stick out a bit, but that's as good as I could get it." I nodded and squinted at the shadows. I pulled them over the two tents, so you couldn't see the bright colors. They reacted to my will and melted over the sides of the tent. I smiled proudly and looked at Annabeth. She looked at my with her eyes all big.

"Whew, didn't think you'd be able to control your powers this young. Good job kid." She praised me, which made me smile more. Then my face dropped; Bianca wasn't here to tell me good job, neither was my mommy. I started tearing up. Thalia noticed and scooted closer to me.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry I didn't mean to remind you of anything." Annabeth bit her lip, obviously guilty.

"S'okay Anna –" I hiccupped. "—beth."

"Oh Nico, do you miss your family? I don't. Not so much anymore anyways. I have a new family! You and Annabeth." Her eyes sparkled. She looked at the sky with her blue eyes, lost in thought. "You know Nico? I think the gods are alright, I might've not met my daddy, but Annabeth met her mommy. Her mommy brought her to me, and then us to you. So I think they're alright." She grinned before hugging me tight. I flinched, but I hugged her back. She was warm.

I sniffled, "Alright…Thank you Thalia. And you Annabeth. You guys saved me from that one eyed thing earlier didn't you?"

Annabeth nodded and pulled out her knife. "It's celestial bronze, one of the only things that can kill monsters. It's pretty hard to find, but my mom gave me this the last time she saw me. It was the night I ran away from home, some monsters attacked my house and I got separated from my family. That was two years ago. I ran far away, trying to draw the monsters from my little brothers, I never went back. I didn't want to be the cause of their deaths," her voice shook. "She visited me that night, and apologized for not being there. She said she wanted me to live a regular life for as long as possible. She told me how and why she couldn't visit…it's against the laws apparently. Anyways she gave me this dagger and sent me to the south. Texas; where I found this little booger." She pointed at Thalia who grinned in turn.

Thalia piped up next, "My story is kind of like yours Nico. I was sevenish when the monsters came one night. My big brother, Jason…" she bit her lip. "We were at the park. He was nine and really strong. We were with our mommy when she got really angry and put my brother in time out. But then a big monster, a hellhound, jumped out of nowhere and hurt my brother. I don't know what happened to him…my mommy took me away and hid me…she never came back."

Thalia wiped tears from her face. I looked at her understandingly and shuffled so that I was touching her. I put my small arms around her and let her lean on me. She was bigger than me, being around two years older, but I wanted to be there for her, like she was for me earlier. We stayed that way for a long time. We nibbled on the food that Annabeth made us, but after the stories none of us were really in the mood. Annabeth hadn't cried like us, but I could tell she was sad too. The moon came up long before Annabeth brought herself together enough to speak.

"Alright guys, time for bed. The two of you seem like you're falling asleep on each other already." I yawned and stood up, pulling Thalia with me. Annabeth looked at the two of us and smiled. She muttered something about young love before making her way into her tent. As we wandered into our blue tent, I noticed there was only one sleeping mat. Thalia sat on it first, so I went to go sit in the corner. Thalia looked at me questioningly.

"What?" I asked.

Instead of answering she stood up and pulled me onto the mat next to her. "You're one of us Nico. Family. You'll lay here with me ok? Besides…I…I kind of missing being held. My brother used to rock me to sleep…"

I looked at her and nodded shyly. "Okay…"

She laid down on one half of the pillow and closed her eyes. I sighed, missing Bianca and my mother, and laid down next to her. A few moments later I lost myself in the depths of sleep.

**Don't forget to review! I'll see y'all next time :)**

** - x3hellokitty**


	2. Surprises

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever? **

**A/N: I don't own PJO or HOO! Also I'd like to thank all my reviews/favorites/followers, you guys rock! + a shoutout to SummerSpirit for your constant support and reviews!**

Time Skip: 2 months later

"Come on slow poke!" Thalia called ahead of me. Her long legs carried her further ahead as I struggled to keep up. Suddenly Thalia pitched forward as she tripped over her feet. I laughed and took it as a chance to catch up to her. I smiled at her and helped her up. She stood up and leaned over to fix my necklace. It was a simple string with a lightning bolt bead on it, but it meant the world to me. Thalia gave it to me last week for my birthday.

I tilted my head as I heard a rustle behind us. Turning around I looked at it, as did Thalia. She stepped around me, trying to peer between the bushes. Excited she rushed forward.

"Thalia, no!" I grabbed a hold of her hand before she could disappear into the forest. "We're supposed to be getting firewood remember?" Annabeth had sent us to find firewood while she set up camp. Nowadays we were somewhere in Pennsylvania, not too far away from Washington DC, where the two originally found me. She looked at me and then back at the trees before scrunching up her face and begging me with her big blue eyes.

I hesitated. "I don't know Thalia…what if it's a monster? We don't have any weapons, and Annabeth is back at camp, she might not hear us," I whispered uncertainly.

"Oh you're no fun! C'mon! We're children of the Big Three, what could go wrong?" Thalia pouted. I sighed; it's been this way since me wet. She was the daring one: bold and fearless, while I tended to play it safe. The perfect balance. The two of us were inseparable since the moment I held her that first night in the tent.

She pulled at my arm again. "Everything could go wrong Thals! It could be a hellhound, or…or…or a Minotaur!"

"Nicoooo, you're too boring and safe! Besdies there's only one Minotaur, what are the chances that we'd find it? Anyways with your shadows and my lightning powers we're unstoppable!" Thalia boosted before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

I muttered under my breath, "Very likely considering how much we stink of god…" before I spoke up, "I don't know…you're only nine, and I'm eig-"

"I'm going with or without you," she looked at me pointedly.

I scowled at her, even after only two months she already knew what makes me crack. I barely said fine before she flashed me a brilliant smile and pulled me into the underbrush on yet another adventure.

"Oof! Ow Thaliaaa, you made me trip," I complained before getting up off the floor to look at her. She seemed to be frozen in place. "Thalia?" I waved a hand in front of her face before following her gaze.

A young girl, no older than us, sat stoking a small flame in the middle of the clearing. She had short brown hair, tan skin, and brown eyes that glowed with the power of the firelight. _Wow…I don't think she's human._ I opened my mouth to voice my concerns to Thalia, but when I turned to face her, she wasn't there. I gasped and looked around to find Thalia rushing into the clearing.

"Who are you?" Thalia pointed accusingly at the girl.

"Thalia!" my mouth gaped in surprise. "Don't be RUDE! She might Be someone." I whined and slightly cowered from the small girl. I tried to pull Thalia back to safety, but being the stubborn person she is, she wouldn't budge. I growled at her before glancing nervously at the person next to the fire. The little girl just grinned at me, obviously amused.

"It's okay young hero. You can calm down, I have no intention of blasting you or your friend. Just the opposite really. I'm Hestia, goddess of the hearth; I'm here on the behalf of your parents," she smiled warmly at me. I found myself grinning back. I felt so warm and loved; the feeling reminded me of back home with my mommy.

"It's nice to meet you Lady Hestia." I bowed before glaring at Thalia. She got the message and curtsied. "Yes, it's nice to meet you."

Hestia smiled at me again. "So polite Nico, that's rare with the young ones nowadays. I see you have even tamed the young daughter of Zeus. It's quite the achievement considering she's such a strong spirit." She looked between the two of us, "Don't forget about each other okay? Always stay together." She ruffled my hair before settling back down by the fire.

"Don't worry Miss Hestia! We're best friends, we'll always be together!" Thalia grinned and tossed an arm around my shoulders.

I looked at her and grinned, "Always Thals! Friends for life!"

Hestia smiled at us. "Good, now, you're parents gave me a few presents…they aren't allowed to see you right now but they sent me, I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not Lady Hestia! Can we see them?" the two of us chorused together. Manners or not we were still kids, and very much excited about our presents.

"Of course young ones. Nico first. Your father says happy birthday by the way." She pulled out a small black pendant. Upon further inspection I realized it was a miniature helm of darkness. I vaguely recognized it from the pictures Annabeth had showed me last night. I took it from her and held it in my hand. My eyes twinkled with happiness, my first present from father.

"What does it do Lady Hestia?"

"It fits on your necklace, here, let me help." She snapped her fingers and it appeared magically around my neck. I gasped, smiled, and lightly fingered my necklace. "If you concentrate it can turn into a sword. Why don't you try it out?"

Excited, I looked at my charm in wonder and willed it to morph. I fell over as it sprung out with more force than I had guessed. Now, instead of a charm, a beautiful black sword was in my hand.

"Wow! This is wicked! What's it made of?"

"It's stygian iron; made especially for the children of Hades. It's most powerful when held by you or your siblings. It will glow as you do." I grinned again happily and threw my arms around the goddess in a huge hug.

"Thank you, thank you!" I thanked her profusely. She laughed and hugged me back.

"You're welcome little one, but it should be your father you're thanking." I stepped back, still smiling, and thanked my father for the sword. I thought sadly how I wished my mother and sister could see this moment. I looked at Thalia's bouncing form and shook off the sad thoughts before willing my charm back into a necklace. I admired the way the two charms looked on my necklace; the bolt and the helm. Just like me and Thalia. I glanced over at her endearingly.

"What about me? What about me?" Thalia bounced up and down like her usual self.

"Calm down child, there is something for you yet." Hestia pulled my best friend onto her lap. It looked funny since Thalia was just as big as her, but I didn't say anything in fear of being blasted. Hestia reached into her bag and pulled out a small silver bracelet. She helped Thalia put in on, which was impressive since Thalia was bouncing all over the place. Thalia flashed one of her thousand bolt grins before attacking the goddess with questions.

"So what's it do? Does it shoot lightning bolts? Or summon airplanes and helicopters? Does it turn into a sword? Or a dagger? Or a bow and arrow? Does it summon wind? OH! OH! Does it make me FLY? That would be so cool! Wouldn't it Nico?" Thalia rattled on. I nodded slightly before laughing at Hestia's confused expression. She probably wouldn't have guessed how fast Thalia could talk.

"Oh child, calm down before you hurt someone. It's a shield, it shall grow with you as Nico's sword grows with him. Aegis is its name. It's very fearsome in battle, it can make the most fearsome of monsters flinch. The front holds an image of Medusa. The shield will help you greatly in battle, you can activate it by slapping the front," Hestia explained patiently. I was astonished at the goddess' patience; usually Annabeth would've told Thalia to stop talking before she asked half the questions she did. Suddenly Thalia stood up and hugged the goddess before thanking her and Zeus for the shield/bracelet.

Thalia suddenly stood up and backed away from the fire so she could use her newly acquired shield. She slapped her bracelet once and it sprang to life. Thalia and I gasped for the umpteenth time that day as Hestia watched amused. Thalia turned to look at me, but rather than smile at her I screamed in fear. I was face to face with a hideous monster with reptile skin and snakes for hair. _Medusa_, I thought to myself as I cowered behind my arms. Thalia finally put up her shield and grinned at me. I shuddered; Thalia was using her prank grin. I groaned at the pranks to come. I looked back at Lady Hestia, who stoked the fire patiently. "Thank you again Lady Hestia."

Thalia caught my frown and bowed at the young looking goddess. "Yes Lady Hestia, thank you very much."

"Of course little heroes, you have great future ahead. Be careful of your choices, things may threaten your friendship no matter how good it seems now. Stay strong little ones. Stay together, protect each other, and give this to Annabeth." She tossed us a Yankees ball cap. I looked questioningly at Hestia as Thalia caught the cap.

"It's from Athena; Annabeth will know what to do with it." And with that she flashed away leaving us to our thoughts…but we were kids, so we instead ran back to camp screaming for Annabeth.

"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth!" we panted as we ran into camp. She was looking over some maps but jumped up faster than a bullet at our calls. She pulled out her knife and got into a battle position, looking for potential enemies.

"What's wrong guys? Where is it?"

"Where's what Annabeth? Nothing's wronggg!" Thalia drawled happily. Confused Annabeth straightened herself out and sheathed her knife. Finally she looked at the two of us and noticed Thalia carrying a Yankees ball cap.

"What's that Thalia? Where'd you find it? And where's your firewood?" Annabeth questioned us.

"Er…well we were walking through the forest and we –"

I cut her off. "I want to tell her Thalia!" I said shoving her a bit.

"Well I'M older! So I should tell her." Thalia said pointedly before shoving me back.

"Well what if I want to tell her? And don't shove me!" I pouted and shoved her back.

"You started it!" Thalia yelled. We continued like that for a minute until Annabeth's impatience got the best of her.

"Guys, guys. You'll both tell me ok? Thalia first, she did start telling the story already." Annabeth looked at us until we nodded. Finally she sat down, so we followed in suit.

"Okay so we were walking through the forest and we heard this rustle in the bushes. So we decided, because we're so awesome, we could go check it out!" Thalia started.

I cut in, "I told her it was dangerous though." Annabeth smiled at me, knowing I always tried to keep Thalia out of trouble.

"ANYWAYS, we decided to check it out. And it was a goddess! Her name was Hestia, goddess of the hearth. And she gave us presents! She said our parents gave them to us! I want to show you! I want to show you!" Thalia said exuberantly.

She suddenly stood up and slapped Aegis. I jumped behind Thalia, not wanting to see the scary face. Annabeth on the other hand didn't know about the Medusa face and screamed quiet shrilly. We laughed at her expression before Thalia put her shield in bracelet mode.

Annabeth scowled at the spiky demigod before looking at me, "What about you Nico? I know you'd warn me if you have a scary shield too."

I smiled. "Daddy gave me a sword! Its sty..stick..stickian iron!" I said proudly and activated my sword.

"Wow Nico! That's really cool, it's pronounced Stygian though. You guys know what this means right?"

"What?" Thalia and I chorused together.

Annabeth smiled wryly, "I can train you guys. You can fight the monsters now. Luckily we haven't had anything too dangerous that I couldn't take by myself, but with you two getting older and stinkier I wouldn't be surprised if there were more dangerous monsters coming up."

Thalia and I looked at each other excitedly, "When can we start?"

"After lunch okay? You guys still need to get me firewood. Stay close. No more finding random gods and goddesses. Oh wait, Thalia, what about the hat?"

We looked at each other, just remembering we had it. I spoke up, "Uh…Lady Hestia said you'd know what to do with it. It's from Athena." Annabeth nodded before taking the hat. I noticed her send a small prayer, most likely to Athena, and that she looked uncertain about the hat.

"Why don't you put it on?" I smiled cheekily. Annabeth grinned ruefully at me and stuck it on her head. As soon as she did she disappeared, Thalia and I screamed.

"Annabeth? Annabeth! No! She's gone…it must have…it must've vaporized her." Thalia cried in despair.

"I…I killed her…?" I dropped to the ground, crying slightly.

"Hush, Nico its okay." I felt arms go around me, the voice sounded like Annabeth. I cried harder. "Hey don't cry, I'm flattered and all but I'm right here. It was invisibility cap you silly kids."

I gasped, "Annabeth! You really are here!" I leapt up and hugged her hard.

"You two are adorable, come here Thals. Group hug?" Thalia and I hugged Annabeth together for a long time before Annabeth laughed and pulled us up into a standing position. "Alright guys, lunch time okay?" We nodded, both famished from our endeavors of the day.

_Mmm…_I put my head on Thalia's back. She was lying on her stomach finishing up her macaroni, so I figured she'd make use as a good pillow. I looked at the sky, watching the clouds float by. I wondered what it was like to fly and vaguely wondered if Thalia would be able to. I was lost in thought when Thalia abruptly stood up and let my head fall to the ground.

"Hey! I was laying on you," I pouted.

"Too bad! I finished my food, it's time to train! Unless you're too chicken?" Thalia proceeded to begin "squawking" like a chicken. I groaned before getting up off the floor.

"Okay, let's go." I flashed a grin at Thalia before looking at Annabeth, who looked at us endearingly.

"Oh c'mon guys. Do you really think I'd trust you using your weapons right now? You have to get in shape first. Besides, I need time to look up how to use those weapons. I've never fought with anything other than my dagger." We nodded understandingly.

"So what now Annabeth?" I asked.

"Hmm… ten laps around camp."

My mouth dropped in surprise. Thalia immediately started to complain. I heard her say things like "pooper scooper" and "unfair as Minos". Annabeth looked like she was trying not to laugh, in fear of getting shocked most likely.

Annabeth struggled to gain her composure and succeeded in telling us to hurry up with a straight face. I grabbed Thalia's hand and pulled her into a reluctant jog around camp.

It was like that for a few weeks; wake up, jog, eat, move camp, jog some more. Soon Thalia and I were running 30 to 40 laps around camp while Annabeth lazily "looked up how to teach sword fighting".

Thalia stretched her legs after running our daily 40 laps and collapsed on the floor next to me. I laughed and sat next to her, resting my head on her lap. Annabeth stood up and ambled over to us. "What? Tired already? We haven't even started!"

Thalia and I scrunched up our faces, "But Annabeth! We already ran today." I pouted sadly.

She grinned wryly at us, "I wasn't talking about running…"

Thalia grinned, "You mean-?"

Annabeth nodded. I jumped up and hugged her. I summoned my sword as Thalia slapped her shield. I flinched, but no longer screamed like I used to (she pulled one too many pranks). Annabeth assumed a position a few feet from us. "Alright guys, so first—did you hear that?"

A rustle sounded from the trees. Annabeth groaned, "But it's been so peaceful…" She trailed off as a nasty empousa clopped out of the trees. Her pale white skin and red eyes glowed from her flaming hair as her donkey and bronze legs stepped unevenly closer. Annabeth growled as she rushed forward to kill the empousa. Thalia and I panicked as another stepped out from the other side of the clearing, closest to us.

The monster smiled at us. "Ah, young ones, and powerful too. Such a pretty little boy, I will have fun eating you first." She reached out to me as I shakily held my sword in front of me.

"Don't hurt yourself young one, be a good boy and put the sword down. Come here."

"Over my dead body!" Thalia jumped in front of me holding Aegis. The empousa flinched long enough for Thalia to bash it. I ran around Thalia and tried to cut at its legs. She screamed as my blade cut a large gash in her celestial bronze leg.

"I will kill you demigods," she hissed. "Sister, come help me!" She waited for a reply.

"Sister? Sister?" She screeched in anger as she looked up to see Annabeth holding her dagger. "You will pay for this daughter of Athena!" The empousa reached up to slash at Thalia, but on instinct I leapt in front of her.

"No!" I yelled. I vague heard a scream as I landed on the floor. Only when I struggled to stand up did I realize it was Me that screamed. My chest was bleeding and I could see a large gash in the skin. I growled and picked up my sword despite the pain.

"Don't. Touch. Her." I snarled. Suddenly dark black shadows shot out of the sword and knocked into the seductress. I saw her open her mouth in a sick scream before she dissolved into a gold dust. I flinched, realizing I just killed my first monster. _Wait…I just killed my first monster._

I leapt up to my feet, "Thalia! Oh my gosh, did you see that? I just killed a monster. A real monster, can you believe it?" I looked back and forth between Thalia and Annabeth. Both just stared. I smiled happily. "Guys this is great! Isn't it? Why are you just looking at me like that?" I frowned.

"N…Ni…Nico…you…your chest," Thalia pointed at me. I scrunched up my face and looked down, confused.

I gasped when I saw it, I had forgotten in my adrenaline, but my chest was gaping open. It was raw and bleeding profusely, but it still hurt, which was a good sign I guess. I sat there, stunned. Thalia pulled herself over to inspect my wound. I tried to steel myself up, and look like a man, but the second she touched me I screamed. Not just a yelp, a blood curdling scream. That was the last thing that happened before I passed out.

**Oh no Nico! What a hero, what'll happen next? Stay tuned and don't forget to review! **


	3. New Faces

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever? **

**So I absolutely love this chapter! I hope you guys like it too, its my longest one yet :) I won't be able to update for a few weeks since I'm going on Vacation! Exciting, anyways Please review! and check out my other stories! Enjoy the chapter! I don't own PJO or HOO**

Chapter 3: New Faces

I vaguely felt someone holding me, I heard screams too. Cries. Thalia's cries. I didn't want her to cry. I tried to reach out to her, but I couldn't move. I heard someone yelling for fast aid. Something was running, and fast. It hurt, it kept shaking me. I groaned it pain, trying to ask them to stop moving, but it sounded more like a gargled yell.

Thalia's POV

I screamed when he passed out, I vaguely heard Annabeth cry too, but I was too lost in my own thoughts to look. I fell on my knees next to him, I cried his name over and over but he wasn't moving. I thought back to how Hestia told us to protect each other. Tears leaked down my face, _I failed._ I touched Nico's wrist. I could still feel his heartbeat, it was faint, but it was there. I looked up at Annabeth, tears running down my face. That seemed to break the trance she was in and she rushed forward. She scooped Nico up into her arms, wincing at the blood that poured on her.

"Let's go Thals," her voice broke. "We…we have to find help." I nodded numbly, realizing how much Nico had grown on us these past few months. Then we ran. I ran faster than I had ever ran before, struggling to keep up with Annabeth. Trees flew by, fences, roads. I finally was able to see the outline of a lone house in the field ahead.

"Up ahead, Annabeth! It's a house; maybe they'll have first aid!" I yelled. Annabeth nodded in understanding. She pulled Nico tighter to her chest and jumped the small fence into the yard. I looked around; trying to find the owner, but no one was home.

_Break and enter,_ I thought numbly. I never was one for rules and manners anyway. I ducked under the fence, wishing Nico was able to teleport us into the house. _But Nico is the reason we're doing this._ I started to cry again. I looked up and realized Annabeth had already broken the window and climbed in. I ran into the house and jumped through the window with a duck and roll.

"Thalia, search the drawers, I'll check the cabinets!"

I nodded and ran to the kitchen. I tossed things back and forth, opening the drawers and sifting through the contents. I made a note to which had food and other items we might need later, and disregarded those that didn't. Finally I came across something that looked like it would help. An emergency first aid kit. I yelled in joy. It wasn't much, it only had the basic gauze and sterilization packets, but it was more than what we had before. I grabbed it and made a mad dash towards the couch that Annabeth had deposited Nico on. Annabeth squatted down next to me, I gave her the packet since she was more experienced in healing.

"Go see if you can find more alright? I'll take care of Nico." I nodded and ran off. I was halfway through checking one of the bathrooms near the front door when I heard tires. _No, no, no, oh gods please no._ I begged my father that it wasn't the owners of the house. _Oh gods, please don't let them kick us out. Nico Can't die. He can't. What are we going to say to them._

"Hey mom, I think there's someone inside. The lights on…" I heard a muffled sound, like metal. I tried to back up, to get to the living room and warn Annabeth without making too much noise.

"I'm going to go check it out. Stay here okay?"

"Percy, I'm not going to let you. You're just a kid! You couldn't down a burgular!"

"Mom, I've killed monsters twice my size, I think I can handle a mortal." _Monsters? Mortal? Could this guy be a demigod?_ My heart fluttered, _if he was a demigod he might understand and help us. Maybe he had ambrosia_…I peeked out of my hiding place in the bathroom. The door creaked slightly and I winced before realizing it was not my door, but the front door that had opened. I couldn't let him find Nico and Annabeth first.

I leapt out of the bathroom and slapped my bracelet. Aegis sprang to life and I hit the guy in the side. I heard an oof and a groan. I stepped forward, letting the arm with my shield fall to the side. Before I realized it I was on the floor with a sword pressed to my neck.

"Ah!" I screamed as the sword drew blood. My assailant flinched, his sea green eyes widened in confusion.

"I…you…you're not mortal. You're…a demigod. A kid. Wha…what are you doing here?" He got off me and pulled me up. I scowled at him and held my shield in front of me yet again. I glanced behind me, towards the living room. I looked back at the young boy in front of me.

_Buy time,_ I thought. "Name's Thalia. Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus." He looked thoughtful.

"Oh uh, sorry about the knocking you down part. Instinct. Pretty neat shield you got there." He ruffled my hair making me growl. "I'm Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon." He stuck out his hand. I eyed it suspiciously before shaking it.

Percy smiled and put away his sword. I could see the word _Anaklusmos_ engraved in the side. _Riptide._ My brain automatically translated the word.

"So…not to be rude, but what are you doing here? Not that I mind, its great meeting a cousin and all."

"Uh…I just needed a place to crash. This was the closest?" I said uncertainly. He eyed me suspiciously and was about to give me a grudging nod, but there was a loud thump and some obscenities heard from the living room. _Dang it Annabeth, we almost had him._ I thought worriedly, scared for all of our sakes. _Especially Nico…_

"What was that? Someone else is here? Why did you tell me?" Percy yelled accusingly before pushing past me into the living room. I tried to stop, but his bulk proved too strong for me. I ran after him as fast as I could. Percy bursted into the living room, his black hair flying in multiple directions, as his ADHD kicked in and analyzed the situation. He could see Annabeth kneeling on the floor over a bleeding Nico, trying to put gauze over his torn chest. My heart almost bursted as I looked at my best friend laying on the floor. I let out a small whimper.

Percy turned around and looked at me with sympathy, "This is what you were trying to hide? You were just protecting them." He looked genuinely caring, I nodded softly. He walked slowly over to Annabeth, trying not to scare her.

"Hey, uh, I…I'm Percy. I'm a demigod, like you guys. Let me help; I might have more experience with these injuries than you." Percy knelt by Annabeth. She looked up at him in surprise. Her mouth dropped open with an audible pop as she slowly backed away. She stuttered, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm…I'm Annabeth? Yea Annabeth." she blushed furiously.

I blinked in surprise; this was the first time I've seen the daughter of Athena flustered. Annabeth looked around the room nervously until her eyes fell on me in the corner; she then quickly stood up, ran over to me with her arms wide open and cried. I knew the stress was taking a toll on her emotions so I just held on to her with my small arms and sobbed with her into her shoulder. We held on tight murmuring how it was going to be okay. I tried to comfort Annabeth, but my heart was truly scared for the eight year old whose life was on the line.

A light moan from the couch drew my attention and I looked at him; there was a large gash on his chest and a Percy leaning over him. I thought back to the moment Nico jumped in front of me, and it dawned on me. _Nico saved me._ My eyes widened in realization. If Nico died it would be my fault. I put my hand to my mouth and tried to distance myself from Annabeth. _She'd be disgusted with me. This is all my fault._ I tiptoed over to Nico and sat myself by his head. Percy didn't protest, so I figured I wasn't in his way. I patted Nico's head, feeling his soft locks. I always complained about his long hair, but now I didn't want anything more than for him to wake up and tell me how much he hated me petting him.

"Hey Thalika, I need you to hold up his head for me." I ignored his butchering of my name and lifted Nico's head a few inches off the ground. I saw Annabeth look through her tears at the three of us curiously, wondering what Percy was going to do. I can tell her "Athena gears", as I often referred to them as, were turning in her head. Percy pulled out a small yellow square and placed it in Nico's mouth, forcing him to chew. I gasped, _ambrosia._ I yipped in joy and kissed Nico smack on the forehead. I wasn't losing my best friend yet. I smiled and watched his wound close up.

"Thank you Percy," I breathed.

"No problem, I wouldn't let the poor kid die anyway. Uh, I'll let you three…have some time. I'm going to go get my mom if that's ok? Don't worry, she can see through the mist so you don't have to worry about a cover story." He ambled out the door with his hands in his pockets.

_Well I guess he seems alright…_

Nico's POV

I groaned. It was too hot in here. My chest felt warm after I ate the cookies that someone fed me. Weird that they would feed me that after getting sliced in the chest. _Wait, I got sliced in the chest. _I started to sit up quickly before I realized that something was on me. I smiled as I saw Thalia laying her head on my chest while Annabeth sat by the couch with her head on my hand.

"Hey, Thalia? Anna? Where are we? What happened?" I scrunched up my face in confusion. _Where's my cut? How'd I get healed? Where Are we?_ I made a note to ask when the girls were up. I poked Thalia, who whined and put her arms around my waist. I struggled, feeling confined, "Thaliaaaaa, you're squishing me!"

Her eyes shot open, "Nico! Annabeth, Annabeth! Nico's awake!" She threw her arms around me. "I thought you were going to die! You're so stupid Nico! Why'd you jump in front of me! I could've handled myself." Thalia looked away, tears welling up in her eyes.

I looked at her in surprise, "Thalia, you're my best friend. Of course I would protect you. It doesn't matter that I'm younger; I'm always going to protect you. Remember what Hestia said?"

"I don't care. How am I supposed to protect you back if you keep doing stuff like that?" Her voice was laced with the pain she must've endured the past…I'm not even sure what time it was.

I sighed, "Sorry Thals, I'll…try to be less…"

"Reckless?" Annabeth finished for me. I nodded. "I was so scared I couldn't save you Neeks…" I grinned.

"Annabeth, you're the smartest person I know! You could've saved me, but sorry anyways. Hey, wait, ow! Thaliaaa! What was that for?" Thalia grinned after she shocked me. Annabeth laughed at our antics.

"Just a little motivation for you to not scare us again like that." I rolled my eyes, same old, violent Thalia.

"So…guys, really. Where are we?" I asked. The two looked at each other.

Annabeth bit her lip, "A house? I think we're still in Pennsylvania. There's a demigod here, son of Poseidon I think. Thalia met him, but I didn't get a chance. Too busy freaking out about a certain little booger." She rustled my hair making me frown. "He's actually the reason we were able to save you. He had some ambrosia on him…anyways; now that you're up I guess I should go get him. He's somewhere in the front with his mom waiting for us. They wanted to give us some space until you woke up. We should probably go see what's up with him and introduce ourselves properly." Annabeth bit her lip. _Probably worrying about her deteriorating manners. Those tend to go away when you live in a forest for like 2 or 3 years with little kids. _

I laughed at her, "Stop worrying about your manners Anna, we'll figure it out." Annabeth blushed and bit her lip again.

"Right, manners," she coughed.

"Maybe Mrs. Blofis-?" I paused uncertainly. "Can help us find a place to stay for a bit? I'm tired of lying on the floor."

I thought wistfully to how a bed felt, I hadn't felt a real bed in weeks, ever since Annabeth snuck us into a motel for a night. Annabeth nodded in agreement as Thalia smiled and rubbed her eyes.

"Thals, sweety, can you call…uh, Percy in for us?" Annabeth asked sweetly. She always treated us like we were her own family. That's one of the reasons I liked her, she reminded me a lot of my sister. My thoughts were interrupted by a loud yell coming from Thalia. I tried to stifle a laugh, Thalia being rude as usual. She glared at me before giving me a light shock. I frowned and pulled the shadows around me into a dark hand and began tickling her. She fell over laughing and landed on the floor with a squeal and a large thump. Before I could get too carried away though, a young boy ran into the room.

He looked around Annabeth's age, maybe a little younger. He seemed to be tall, taller than Annabeth, and had raven black hair. His sea-green eyes twinkled mischievously and his mouth was turned up in a cheeky grin. He looked alright, considering he saved me and all. I glanced at my two companions to see Thalia staring at the ceiling uncaringly, while Annabeth blushed at the sight of the young demigod.

I looked back at him, wondering what was going on. He seemed to have his eyes trained on Annabeth as well. I frowned and coughed, trying to draw attention away from the girl that was like a sister to me. They both looked at me.

I peered up innocently, "What? Just wondering who he is."

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself. Sorry, I'm usually not like this. I actually like meeting people."

The guy grinned goofily, "Name's Jackson. Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon, it's my second year at Camp Half-blood and I'm 12 years old, going on thirteen." He tried to sound like James Bond. He came over to me sat near my feet.

"How ya feeling kid? That was a pretty nasty cut you got there. You should tell me what happened later. Anyways what's your name?" he inquired.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." He nodded approvingly.

"What 'bout you?" he looked pointedly at Annabeth. She tossed her hair, "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. I'm 14…and what's this…'Camp Half-blood'?"

He looked incredulously at her, "You mean you haven't head of Camp Half-blood? Where have you guys been all this time?"

"No, should I have? I've been on the road for more than two years, Thalia and Nico less, should we have been somewhere else? I thought all demigods took to the woods." He blinked, obviously surprised by her answer.

"Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me. You've been on the road for years with not one, but Two children of the Big Three, and you are still alive? Wow, I am impressed." Percy blushed at his reaction while Annabeth nodded; her cheeks also tinged pink from his compliment. _Gosh, they keep it up they'll both be tomatoes. _

"So…does that mean we should…I don't know, go there?" I asked Percy. My expression was thoughtful as I thought of having a home again. I've been on the run for months, the girls longer, and I knew it was no life for a kid. We had trouble making ends meet, even with Annabeth's invisibility cap we could only steal so much without being noticed.

He smiled, "Oh I know what! School is ending in a month, I can take you guys there myself! Until then maybe you guys can stay here. Oh! I could even train you guys. Wow this could be crazy good." Percy ranted on about the camp activities and how if we started practicing now we could impress everyone when we got there. I tuned him out after awhile and started poking Thalia. She grinned and poked me back, obviously bored as well. Annabeth on the other hand was hanging on Percy's every word. It was obviously she liked him. I wasn't sure if he could tell though. He seemed slow.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when Thalia started to tickle me. I laughed loudly and tried to stop her, but she was bigger than me and pinned me down. I writhed and squealed when I felt a familiar falling sensation.

"Wah? Ahh! How'd I get up here?" I screamed. Somehow I ended up shadow traveling on to the ceiling fan. It wobbled under my weight.

"Why'd you go up there Skull head? There are tons of shadows down here!" Thalia laughed at me.

I growled, "It's not like I wanted to go up here. It just happens, I can't exactly control it." I looked around for a way to get down with no avail.

"…Er, Percy? Can you help me down?" I grimaced.

The guy stared at me in surprise, probably still trying to figure out what happened.

"Son of Hades, I can teleport myself through shadows?" Percy blinked.

"Dude! That's so freaking cool. So far all I can do is make water balls and stuff. And you're like…5."

I huffed, "I'm eight! Now get me down, this is scary…"

He laughed, "Alright, alright." Percy pointed at the sink at the bar, the water spilled out of the faucet until it pooled into a large pillow looking mass. Percy raised the water blob until it was directly under me and told me to jump. I eyed him suspiciously before rolling off the fan. I squeaked as I fell partially the way into the water ball before being pushed back up. When I finally got to the floor I spit up water and glared at Percy. He smiled and shrugged, rolling his eyes. Thalia and Annabeth both giggled at his antics, causing me to poke them in the sides with my shadows. Thalia in turn shocked me which, being covered in water, really hurt.

"Hey!" I threw a shadow ball at Thalia, which missed and hit Percy. I gasped and started to apologize when I got a face full of water. I sputtered and raised my hand to form another shadow ball when Annabeth got my attention.

"Guys, c'mon. Stop showing off your powers, all I got is a big brain, it's not fair!" Percy grinned and splashed her with water.

Annabeth growled at the three of us laughing, "Hey! Don't do that you…you…you Fish Head!"

"Owl Girl!" He retorted.

"Seaweed Brain!"

"Wise Girl!" The two looked like they were about to start throwing punches. In fact, Annabeth raised her fist before Thalia distracted her.

"You guys sound like me and Nico!" The two of us laughed before we heard a new voice in the room.

"It looks like the four of you guys have warmed up," a light breezy voice came from the kitchen. I turned my head to see a pretty woman standing at the door. She had long brown hair and warm brown eyes, she reminded me of Hestia in a way. She looked like home.

"Hi, I'm Percy's mom, Mrs. Blofis, but you guys can call me Sally."

"So, Mom, these are…our visitors. They're demigods. This is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Nico, son of Hades; he's the boy that was hurt earlier," Percy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh, well I'm glad you're feeling better Nico. So what brings you guys here? Passing through from a quest, maybe?"

"Actually, Mom, these guys have never been to camp." Sally blinked in surprise.

"You mean…you guys have been alone all this time?" I nodded along with Thalia and Annabeth. Before we knew it Thalia and I were being wrapped up in warm, motherly arms.

"Oh you poor babies, that must've been so hard." I felt lips press against the top of my head before they moved on to kiss Thalia as well. I teared up, missing my own mom. I could tell Thalia was sad too.

Sally looked at Annabeth in pity, "How long?"

Annabeth smiled sadly at the loving mother, "Going on three years for me, two years for Thalia, and a few months for Nico." Sally shook her head.

"Demigod lives are never easy," Sally kissed my head again. "You guys are welcome to stay here any time okay? I heard Percy mention taking you to camp, you're welcome to live here until it is time to go to camp."

Annabeth nodded gratefully, I could see the relief in her eyes. Thalia and I on the other hand held on tighter. It had been so long since we felt like this, Annabeth was great, but there was nothing like a mother to make you feel loved. I felt like I was too old these past few months, being held in those caring arms made me remember I was still only eight years old.

"Thank you so much Mrs… I mean Sally; I can't say how much I appreciate this. It's been really hard trying to take care of these two…" Annabeth sighed.

Sally smiled grimly, "I agree, and you're not much more than a child yourself. Please, will you guys have dinner with us?"

"That sounds like a great idea Mom, I'm starving. Come on Annabeth, you'll love her food, follow me!" Percy said ecstatically before dragging Annabeth off into the kitchen.

Annabeth smiled gratefully at Sally before letting the demigod son of Poseidon pull her away.

Thalia looked up from Sally's arms with an electric smile, "Food? FOOD!" She got up and ran toward the kitchen making me laugh.

"You really do care for her don't you?" Sally peered at me with wondrous eyes.

I nodded, "Yes ma'am. I would give my life for her."

"Yes, you did prove that didn't you…you're such a strong child. Mature for your age. I pray to the gods you will stay as safe as you can." She caressed my cheek lovingly. She gave me a quick peck on the forehead and carried me into the kitchen before setting me down on the chair next to Thalia. She smiled happily at me as I gazed around the room in wonder.

_A house. A kitchen. A Mom. _I looked at the scene around me. I wished that this would be normal, be able to come home from school and have dinner with my mom in a house. Instead I was on the run from monsters 24/7. I felt a slight twinge of jealous toward the sea child, but shook it off quickly as I felt something touch my hand. I glanced over at the girl beside me. My best friend; Thalia.

Her jet black hair was spiked in every direction, the ends still wet from Percy's water balls. Her blue eyes twinkled with a happiness that I hadn't seen since she got her shield. The two of us never really grew up with a parent. My mom was too busy working to take care of us. She had a hard time making ends meet, so Bianca typically took care of me. Thalia on the other hand had a scatterbrain for a mother. She cared for both Thalia and Jason, but was barely there enough to care for the children. I knew she longed for a parent just as much as I did.

I looked down at our hands, which had twined together under the dinner table. I smiled. Every time I start to hate what had happened to me that led to my orphanage, Thalia does something to make me remember things are okay. If I hadn't been a demigod I wouldn't have met my best friend.

"So guys, what do you want for dinner?" Sally asked from her spot at the stove. Percy shrugged and looked at Annabeth.

"You're the guest Wise Girl, you pick." Percy nudged her. Annabeth looked at us for permission, in which we both nodded encouragingly.

She blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "Is…is it okay if we can have macaroni and cheese?"

Sally smiled endearingly, "Of course honey, you're never too old for mac 'n' cheese right?"

THAT NIGHT:

Nico's dream

A warm hand caressed my cheek and I opened my eyes to a beautiful face. She had tan skin, warm brown eyes and black hair. She was warm and gave off a lively glow. I had come to learn the vibe given off by both live and dead things, and this woman was very much alive. I smiled sadly, realizing the woman looked just like my mother. I knew it wasn't my mother; my mother was dead. I shuddered at the last memory of her; covered in blood with her face molded into an everlasting scream.

"Nico, honey what's wrong?" she asked. She sounded like my mother too. I blinked slowly, trying to process.

"How…how do you know my name?"

"Nicolai, you did not forget your mother's face did you?" I gasped, only my mother and Bianca knew my real name.

"M…mommy? You…you're alive!"

"Of course she's alive stupid," I heard a voice come from my door. _Wait, my door?_ I looked around; I was in my old room. I could see the tan walls with the paint chipping in the corners. There was Mrs. O'Leary, my stuffed dog in the corner. I looked back at the voice and my breath hitched. _Bianca._ That was my breaking point. I burst into tears and held onto my mother. I felt another pair of arms come around me as my older sister comforted me. As I pulled away from my mom to hold onto Bianca more, I felt my mommy's strong arms wrap around the two of us.

"I…I thought you were dead," I sniffled.

"Of course not, did you think Hades would let you be alone?" I smiled. My father came through. I knew if I prayed enough that they would come back. Thalia would be so happy for me. I smiled at the thought of my best friend being part of my family too. Like siblings.

"Mommy, where's Thalia?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Thalia? I've never heard of a Thalia." I tipped my head to the side.

"My…my best friend," I answered incredulously. "She found me, after the hellhound attacked. And you died. I went into the forest..."

"Baby, we killed the hellhound. You never went off into the forest. You've must've been dreaming sweety," she looked at me with big eyes.

"No…no…but…THALIA! No!" I screamed and fell of the bed.

*end dream

I shot off the couch and landed on the floor with an oof. I panted as tears filled my eyes. I missed my mother and Bianca, but I couldn't, wouldn't, live my life without my best friend, my sister. I rubbed away tears as they started to fall down my face. The dream bringing a new onslaught of emotions. The same sadness and longing for my family, but now there was a new one. Fear. Fear of losing Thalia. Fear of being alone. It's why I jumped in front of her. I stumbled around the living room, having slept the night on the couch. It was dark out so I had a hard time finding the hallway, but eventually I made it to Thalia's room. I pushed on the door softly and peered inside.

"Thalia?" I waited with no reply. I stepped in carefully, trying to prevent the door from creaking. "Thals," I called again.

"Neeks? Is that you?" she answered, still groggy.

"I had a bad dream…" I whispered in a hushed tone.

"Me too…it's too weird not having you next to me. Will you…will you stay in here?" she asked. I smiled and jumped into the bed next to her.

"Thalia? Thanks, you're like a sister to me you know."

"You…you're like a brother to me too Neeks. I love you," she sounded content.

"I love you too Thalia…" I whispered as sleep took over me.

**Aww they're so cute. They meet Percy finally :) cute fluff between Thalia and Nico, and something's going on the Annabeth and Percy?[; the faster you review the faster your find out...maybe if enough people ask I'll finish a chapter before I leave! Feel free to leave suggestions and maybe I'll work them in! Reviews make me happy, so please? I don't care if they're super short or super long, I just need something to let me know I'm doing good! Special thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love y'all! **


	4. Warming Up

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever? **

**OMG I'm so so sorry guys! I totally meant to upload this last, last week but my computer crashed -.- perfect right? Anyways thank everyone for all the reviews! They made me so happy while I was on vacation! I had a great one by the way if anyone cares haha! So I realized I haven't gotten nearly as many views as I hoped so L maybe it's the summary? Anyways I changed it, does that make it sound better? Let me know! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter ! I don't own PJO L I wish I did, but oh well!**

"Mom? Annabeth! Thalia! Nico is gone!" Percy screamed through the hall. I rubbed my eyes, _gone? Me? _I laughed realizing I had wandered into Thalia's room without telling the others.

"Did you check Thalia's room? He probably wondered in there, the two are inseparable, I'm telling you guys…" I heard Annabeth answer sleepily.

"Oh…right, I probably should've checked the rest of the house first…" I heard Percy answer sheepishly before Annabeth sighed and called him a fish head. I shifted in the bed and partially landed on Thalia, causing her to groan. She pushed me off the bed and I landed with an oof as soon as Percy walked into the room. He grinned cheekily at us, "Ready for breakfast youngsters?"

We nodded sleepily and started to pull ourselves out of bed. Percy nodded happily and left the room yelling behind him, "We're having blue pancakes!"

I looked at Thalia, "Did he say blue?" I scrunched up my nose as Thalia shrugged carelessly.

"Food is food right? Can you believe it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The other day we were in the forest fighting for our lives, now we are in a house with a mom making breakfast downstairs. We met another demigod that's going to take us to a camp of demigods to learn our powers! And we aren't even dreaming! Like…I just can't comprehend it Neeks. No more fighting for our lives everyday…it'll be the three of us. Together. Like a family. And maybe Percy too, I can see the way Annabeth looks at him." Thalia smiled thoughtfully. I nodded and grabbed her hand; I scrunched up my face and tried to take us to the kitchen by shadow travel. There was a falling sensation before the two of us landed with a thump.

We groaned simultaneously before looking around to see where we were. I was splayed across Percy's lap while Thalia landed on the kitchen table, her face full of Percy's pancakes. Sally looked at the two of us incredulously before laughing.

"You guys must've been really hungry," she chuckled lovingly.

Percy groaned, "C'mon guys! I was eating that…I guess you can have them Thalia…"

"Again guys?" Annabeth came into the room seeing us lying haphazardly in the kitchen. "I'm really sorry Sally, Nico tends to experiment with his shadow traveling powers, and he doesn't usually end up where he wants to go…" she shook her head. "What am I going to do with you guys?"

Thalia grinned, finally lifting her face out the pancakes, "Feed us? Love us?" We all laughed at her answer as she scooted off the table. When she got off she reached over and grabbed Percy's pancakes before settling down at the seat next to him. Digging in happily she looked at Sally, "These are reallyyy good Mrs!"

Sally smiled, "Thank you Thalia. Percy, get some plates for Annabeth and Nico, I already made enough pancakes for all of you so just help yourselves alright? I'm going to go shower, try not to destroy my house alright? Oh and Percy, Paul comes home from the business trip tonight so try to think of a cover story."

After we finished digesting our food Percy piped up excitedly, "Hey guys, you wanna train? There's plenty of room outside." The three of us nodded enthusiastically. Thalia paused, "Wait…I don't have a weapon, I just have a shield."

"Don't worry Sparky, I have some weapons out in the shed." Thalia smiled despite the new nickname as we all followed Percy into the backyard.

"Alright Wise Girl, let's see what you got. I wanna know what I'm working with here," Percy gave her a crooked grin that faded away as Annabeth slashed at him.

"Off guard? You're dirty." He pulled out a pen from his pocket causing the three of us to look at him confused. He chuckled and pulled off the cap turning it into a long sword. _Anaklusmos_. I gasped at the sword, three feet of celestial bronze. Percy stood in attack stance, his sword held out in front of him waiting for Annabeth to make a move. When it became obvious she wasn't he stepped forward and brought up his sword in a downward slash, but at the last second twisted to slash at her side. Annabeth ducked and brought up her knife to block the blow just in time, but Percy was quick and spun around to get to her backside. He dropped to the floor and swung his legs around to trip her. She landed on her butt with a loud thump, but Annabeth was quick and rolled out of the way in time to push her legs out and make Percy fall as well. He fell forward and landed on Annabeth, quickly the two rolled around vying for dominance. At last Annabeth pinned him to the ground with her blade at his throat.

"I win," she grinned happily. He raised his eyebrow and smirked, gesturing at his sword arm. She scrunched up her face before noticing the sword an inch away from her side. Had they been fighting for real it would've stabbed straight through her side and to her heart.

"Hmm, sneaky, but I would've killed you first," she pointed out, causing Percy to scowl.

"Fine…you did pretty well for someone that was never trained Wise Girl." Annabeth smiled at the praise before rolling off of him. She stuck out her hand and helped him up before tossing her hair and walking away.

Percy looked after her wistfully before shaking his head, "So who's next?"

I grinned widely, "Me!" I glared at Thalia before she could say anything. She huffed and sat down angrily. I looked back at Percy expectantly.

"Do you have a weapon?" His face unusually serious compared to his goofy self. I nodded as I willed my charm to activate; after a short, bright glow I stood with a pitch black sword in my hand. I held it with both hands and readied myself like Annabeth. He walked around me, analyzing my stance before stopping behind me.

"Hold still," he said as he started to nudge my feet farther apart. "Now loosen up on the handle, you look like you're trying to choke it. The sword isn't a weapon; it's an extension of yourself. Don't forget that. Can you feel yourself trying to keep track of everything going on right now?"

I nodded; I could feel the wind, where Percy was, Thalia plucking grass as she looked curiously at us, and my surroundings.

"Good, that's your battle instincts trying to kick in. Your ADHD is keeping you alert; this will save you in battle." I felt his arms wrap around me as he knelt down a little. His hands grasped mine as he guided me through swings.

"Alright, so I want you to try to swing at me, don't worry. You won't hurt me. Besides, we have ambrosia in the kitchen." I nodded before stepping forward, holding my blade in front of me. I squatted and tried to slash at his legs and jump back, but Percy was quick and blocked my blow before spinning toward me. His blade whipped toward my right side and I threw my blade up. The metal clanged and sparks flew, I took his surprise at my block to my advantage and hit him in the hip with the hilt of my blade. Before I knew it I had moved behind him, I smiled and jumped on his back. I willed my blade into a charm and latched on to him. He laughed amiably before pretending to scream and fall to the ground.

"I'm glad to see you guys getting along so easily. It took forever for you to warm up to me like that Neeks," Annabeth pretended to pout.

I laughed, "Sorry Anniieee but you're a girl." I stuck out my tongue, "Where'd ya go anyway?"

"Yeah Anniiiee where'd you go?" Percy and Thalia chorused together and grinned at Annnabeth.

"You too Thals? Aw. Well I was being a nice person and made us some lemonade; I hope you don't mind I used your kitchen Percy."

"Well I would hope you used the kitchen and not the bathroom, Wise Girl," Percy teased. He jogged over to the stump she had placed the tray on. After handing me a cup he grabbed one for himself and sat down on the ground.

"Man, this training stuff is hard work," he wiped some sweat off his brow.

Annabeth raised her eyebrow, "Don't you mean losing?" She laughed as he scowled at her. Thalia grabbed a cup and gave one to Annabeth, who accepted it gratefully. I looked up from sitting on Percy's lap to see him grinning mischievously. I was about to ask, but he gave me a sly grin and held a finger to his lips. I nodded as he pointed at Annabeth's cup. Slowly, as she closed her eyes to drink, Percy slipped the lemonade out of her cup and into his. After a moment or two Annabeth realized her cup was empty. She stared confusedly at her cup before glaring at Percy.

"PERCY JACKSON YOU DID NOT JUST TAKE MY LEMONADE!" Annabeth yelled as Percy looked innocently up at her. I shrugged and grinned at Thalia, who had seen the whole thing. I felt bad for not talking to her much in the past few hours, it was so different from our constant chatter, but it felt nice to have another male figure in my life. Thalia got up to come sit closer to me (and Percy by default). Annabeth huffed at being left out and sat by Percy, who grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Look at us, a big, happy family! I think we'll be together forever eh? What do you say guys, the four musketeers?" he said happily. "Everyone at camp is really awesome, but I never really had a group of friends. Now I have two new cousins and an Owl Head!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Fantastic Four, there's only three Musketeers, Fish Boy…get it together." She laughed. Thalia and I shrugged nonchalantly, and I scooted off of Percy's lap. I ended up falling on Thalia, but I laughed and looked up at her from her lap.

She smiled at me, "Not too bad out there with Percy, Zombie Dude. But I'm going to do better, and you know it!"

I grinned wryly, "Of course not…boys are better than girls!" I stuck out my tongue.

"What? No! Girls are smarter, and more mature!"

"Yeah, but we're stronger, why do you think I saved you from the empousa and not the other way around?" I retorted.

Thalia gasped, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She started to back away, obviously hurt. My heart panged, "Thals…I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean that…" I trailed off as she ran the other way.

"Thalia! Come back!" I ran after her, vaguely hearing Annabeth trying to come after us. Thankfully Percy stopped her; I knew this should be just between us. After a few minutes I caught up, I quickly wrapped my arms around her, "Thals…I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

She tried to break away, but I turned her around to face me. I had to look up a bit, but I knew I couldn't let us fight like this. We might act older than we are, that's just being a demigod, but I was still eight, and not the brightest color in the box. I hugged her close, and eventually I felt her tear drops on my shoulder.

"Thals…"

"No Nico, you're right. You could be dead and it'd be my fault. I…I should've been quicker, been able to save you…"

"Hey! You're acting like I'm dead, I'm alive Thals, I'm here. I'll never leave you alone, dead or alive I'll be here for you. I'll jump in front of that empousa every single time, because…I couldn't live with myself if I let something happen to you. You…you're my sister. I wasn't big enough to protect Bianca…but I can protect you. And I will." I looked at her seriously.

"I can't let you die Neeks…not for me. Not after my brother and my mom died for me…I…just..."

"Then none of us die okay? Together forever," I cut her off. I sat on the ground and patted the floor next to me. She nodded, sat on the floor, and rested her head on my shoulder. Though it was still light outside, I felt the two of us drift off into a sleep.

*An hour later

"Nico? Thalia?! Where are you guys? It's been an hour!" I heard Annabeth in the distance. I groaned and struggled to get up from the floor. I nudged Thalia, who was laying on my arm.

"Thals, hey get up. We fell asleep…I think Annabeth is looking for us," I poked her. Her big, blue eyes opened up before squinting at the light of the setting sun. She pushed herself up and looked at me.

She bit her lip, a signature mark of her "scheming face," which made me narrow my eyes in suspicion.

"Wanna try out your powers again?" Thalia winked. I grinned and nodded before grabbing her hand. I closed my eyes and concentrated on where I heard Annabeth and Percy's voices. Suddenly the floor rushed up as a shadow engulfed us to take us to the older demigods. A loud crashing noise sounded from where the two of us dropped from the trees and onto the son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena. We laughed loudly as the two screamed and struggled to find their weapons before realizing it was us.

"Guys! You scared us half to death, where have you been?" Percy threatened un-menacingly; the relief in his voice was obvious. He paused and grinned at us, "Got your girl back Nico?"

Thalia and I looked at each other in disgust before I yelled, "She's not my girl!" at the same time Thalia yelled "I'm not his girl!" He laughed before Annabeth hit him.

"Ow, what was that for Bethie?"

"Don't be so easy on them! They could've been hurt, or worse!" she looked at us accusingly. "You know how much monsters are attracted to your scent."

I looked at my feet sadly, "I'm sorry Annabeth…"

Thalia on the other hand threw her arm around me and said, "Don't worry Annabeth, by the end of the month I'm sure Percy will have taught us enough to fight Any monster!"

Percy laughed, "Thanks for your confidence in my Thals, but I'm just a kid. Wait 'till you meet Chiron! You guys will love him, he's a great teacher. Like a dad too me, other than Paul anyway…speaking of which he'll be home soon…"

I cocked my head, "Chiron? The half goat guy?"

"Nah, he's a centaur; which means he's half horse and half man. Also, the proper term would be satyr, not half goat guy," Percy chuckled. "You might not want to refer to them as 'half goat guys' in person by the way."

I nodded before grabbing Annabeth's hand, "Should we go back?" I looked at her. She nodded down at me, smiling. Together the four of us walked back to the house, which took about thirty minutes. Apparently Thalia and I had run a long way after practice, the forty laps we were used to really helped out our endurance. By the time we got back to the house the sun was starting to set and Percy ran ahead, hoping to catch Paul before he saw us.

As we entered the house we heard Percy talking to Paul, "Hey Dad, so mom let me have some friends over. So we'll cover dinner, you just sit back and relax. Oh here they are! Annie, come on in!"

The three of us walked in timidly to see Paul snickering at Percy, "It's a girl? Son, you're growing up so fast." He sniggered.

"Aw big Percy's growing up," Annabeth cooed and stuck her tongue out at Percy, making him blush. Paul coughed and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before sticking out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Percy's step-father, Paul. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Annabeth, I'm a friend of Percy's from school. These are my uh neighbors Nico and Thalia di Angelo. I was babysitting them today, but really wanted to see Percy before school began," she shook his hand politely. Thalia and I smiled at him before grinning at the thought of us being siblings. The two of us high fived and shuffled into the kitchen after Percy and Annabeth. Thalia casually tipped her imaginary hat at Paul and went into the kitchen.

"Hey don't touch that! Nico put that down! Thalia stop shocking Percy before you make him drop that water ball!" Annabeth shouted angrily.

To say that cooking dinner wasn't going well was an understatement. Batter from our attempt at fried chicken was flung on the walls and cookie dough was all over the counters. Percy laughed as yet another ball of water hit Annabeth in the back making her scowl angrily. He and Thalia high fived I shrugged innocently, and Paul sat unbeknownst to our tragic attempt at a meal. Eventually Thalia, Percy, a disgruntled Annabeth, and I made our way back into the living room before meekly asking for some money for pizza.

Paul laughed, "I was starting to wonder what was taking so long for you guys to ask. Believe it or not, but Percy isn't exactly the kitchen type. He gets too hyped up and starts messing around! Anyways, I already ordered pizza so go ahead and sit down. Watch some TV with me? Hercules is on! I know how much Percy loves to laugh at it; maybe your friends have the same taste Perce...! Ha-ha!"

I smiled at him; he seemed like a good man. Percy was lucky to have such a great guy for a father; mine was currently confined to the depths of the underworld. I sighed sadly before Thalia threw an arm around my shoulders, making me smile. We sat on the couch together, while Percy and Annabeth tossed sly glances at each other. Sadly they always timed it wrong, so neither seemed to catch the other looking. I was about to make a snide comment when the door bell rang.

"Oh that's probably the pizza guy; Nico, Thalia, can you guys go get it? Here's some money," Paul handed us a twenty and pointed us in the direction of the front door. I walked slowly behind Thalia vaguely wondering why it was so easy for mortals to get pizza while my family has been scavenging for the tiniest bit of food. My thoughts were cut off by Thalia yelling, "Nico hurry up! You have the money and we needa pay this dude!"

I shook my head at her and jogged to the door to give the guy his money. We grabbed the pizza and shut the door, inhaling the precious scent we so rarely ever get to have. We smiled at each other before running into the living room where Paul, Percy and Annabeth were sitting.

"Pizza time!" Thalia yelled. Everyone sat up happily as Paul ran into the kitchen to come back with plates and drinks. We sat around the coffee table laughing and eating pizza until a certain name distracted me from my meal. I looked up at the name of "Hades" just in time to see a large blue man with fiery hair appear on the screen. The little demons cowered in fear as he laughed evilly at the pretty lady. I scrunched my face up but continued to eat, assured that they'd have my father turn around and be a good man. An hour or so later the movie ended and we all sat on the couch together amiably. Percy laughed and started to put an arm around Annabeth before he pulled away awkwardly. Annabeth oblivious to his blunder. Thalia looked at the ceiling bored, but I was in shock. My father. Was evil? No he wasn't. I knew he wasn't, he was my father. I might not have met him, but he looked after me and I knew he loved me. The mortals are silly. My eyes stung from unshed tears and I ran to Thalia's and my room. I heard everyone running after me, probably confused at why I was hurt. For the the second time in my life I felt truly alone. I always had my sister...those few days after I lost her where the worst of my short life. But then I found Thalia and Annabeth, but now I realized, I was the only known child of Hades alive right now. Thalia and Percy, the other children of the Big Three were outcasts as well, but no one liked Hades. Percy even told me I didn't have my own cabin. My father wasn't even an Olympian. He was shunned and shown as evil to mortals simply because he was the god of the underworld. I sat in the corner sadly, alone...I was alone. Eventually Thalia came into my room, I heard her tell Annabeth and Percy to leave so she could be alone with me. I was thankful, Percy and Annabeth still had family that was alive, Thalia at least was somewhat like me. I felt her sit next to me.

"Nico why did you run away?" she asked me sadly. I looked up in her big blue eyes. I bit my lip before answering, "I'm alone in the world, and I guess I just realized it."

"What do you mean Neeks?"

"I'm alone Thals. Yeah I have you and Annabeth, and maybe even Percy now, but once we make it to camp Percy will see all his friends, Annabeth will have all her siblings, and you...you're a daughter of Zeus Thals. Hercules is your freaking brother! You'll be seen as a hero. What do I have? I'll get shoved in the Hermes cabin because everyone hates my father!" I wiped my tears away angrily.

"Hercules is a jerk; everyone knows he wasn't as awesome as mortals thought. And same with your father, not everyone hates him Neeks...mortals are just silly with the flaming hair..."

"Is that why I don't have a cabin? Or why my father isn't an Olympian? Because the mortals are silly? No! It's his own family!" Thunder rumbled from outside, but I ignored it and continued my tirade, "He's barely allowed on Olympus! The movie at least got that part right. And don't' try telling me I'm wrong, because I actually stay awake during Annabeth's lessons. I know it's true!" I yelled at her. "Thalia, please, I just need to be alone right now..."

She nodded sadly, "Alright Nico... but remember that daughter of Zeus or not, you're my brother and I'll always be here for you. Forever."

I nodded before climbing into our bed and drifting off into a restless sleep. I barely heard the door shut as my sister in all but blood left the room.

Nico's dream

I woke up to a light hum; I recognized it as the lullaby my mother used to sing to me. I blinked, adjusting my eyes to the dull light of the room. I looked up at the pitch black throne that was in front of me. I gasped quietly as I realized who was sitting in it. A tall man in a pitch black suit sat with his black shoulder length hair in a pony tail at the base of his neck. He had a goatee and dark brown eyes that looked at me with sadness and longing. I smiled hopefully at him.

"Daddy?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yes Nico, it is I, your father. Oh you look so much like your mother young one. I wish I could turn back time and save your mother and sister before it was too late, but alas I cannot. I'm glad you are still well my little one. I believe you had some...apprehension about your parentage?"

I bit my lip before nodding timidly, "I'm sorry Daddy, it's just...I feel so alone. Not many people like you or your children, and it's not even our faults!"

"I know son, but in time that will change...a war is coming, and hopefully you and your friends will change the way people look at the house of Hades!" he smiled at me. "You will bring pride to me yet young one."

"I will, I promise. Thank you for visiting me Daddy." I threw my arms around his leg. He looked at me surprised, obviously astonished at my show of affection. It wasn't unknown that my father wasn't the warm and fuzzy type; while he might not be the evil god people suspect him to be, the years of solitude with dead for company wasn't very beneficial so his social skills. He patted my back softly, "Time to wake up young one...remember I-" He choked. "I love you son."

I woke the next morning feeling a little less lonely; I knew I wasn't alone in the world, even if the other campers shunned me in the future.

**AWW father son bonding J that makes me happy! Sorry if Hades is OOC but it's necessary for the plans I have –rubs hands together menacingly- Review for faster updates! **


	5. Bonding

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever? **

**Hey guys! So I got a job, I'll be helping out an OBGYN doctor until the end of the summer, so I won't be able to update as quickly. Sorry! Also this is very late, I've had family stuff! Went to a wedding and went on a short weekend getaway with my boyfriend! It was 106 degrees there :O so crazy right? Anyways, enjoy this chapter! I don't own PJO sadly ): Also I want to thank my lovely reviewers who make me so happy (: **

Chapter 5: Bonding

"So why exactly are they staying with us until the end of the school?" Paul inquired. Sally's husband couldn't see through the mist. He spent the first weekend thinking that we were friends of Percy's, but after that we had to think of a better story. We got Sally in on this one, asking for her advice.

"Look Paul, I know they might've told you different that first night, but they were scared and didn't know what else to say. The truth is…" Sally looked expectantly at Annabeth. Thalia and I sat on the floor playing with Legos, leaving the words to the older people.

Annabeth picked up from Sally, "We're orphans. Well, foster kids more like it. We were in a foster home not too far from here…it wasn't the best. The parents just wanted money and didn't really care about us. They beat us, last weekend it was pretty brutal. They almost killed Nico…"

Annabeth trailed off and bit her lip, looking away from Paul. I shuddered, causing Thalia to wrap her arms around me. Percy patted Annabeth on the back awkwardly. Paul stood gaping, "Oh…guys I'm so sorry. Please, feel free to stay here as long as possible. I'm so sorry kids; yeah you're welcome here." He rubbed the back of his neck and walked out of the room.

Sally leaned over to her son, "Went better than expected?" The four of us nodded agreeably.

Line Break

"Ugh! I hate Algebra; I don't get how it works. Why do we even have to learn it?" Percy exclaimed. He was studying for his finals, which were only a few weeks away. Summer loomed ahead of us like a beacon, everyone was anxious to go to Camp Half-Blood.

"Because you're in 7th grade and it's part of the curriculum. Now can you explain to me how 929 plus 275 equals 5,416? That doesn't even make sense!" Annabeth explained calmly. Or at least as calm as it gets when it comes to a child of Athena in matters of algebra.

"What do you mean? That obviously is 299 plus 725 equals…uh I can't read what I wrote…" Percy rubbed his neck, his ears turning brighter red. Sally walked over behind the two that were sitting a bit too close at the desk.

"Son, that says 992 divided by 572," she gave him a kiss on the top of his head and wandered off.

The two older demigods smiled at each other sheepishly before trying to calculate the new problem. I walked over to the table and stood on my tippy toes in attempt to see the math they were working on. I had made a habit of trying out Percy's homework, as did Annabeth. Thalia on the other hand just made fun of us for willingly doing work, but what could I say? I was a curious soul that liked to learn.

I looked at the math, puzzling through my dyslexia and answered the question, "It's one point…seven? Yeah one point seven." I smiled proudly as Annabeth turned around with a look of surprise.

"Nico…you did that all by yourself? That…that's right. And you just looked at it, no paper or anything?" she asked. I nodded, confused. Couldn't everyone do that? I looked at Thalia, who shrugged carelessly.

"Nico's smart, got the brain of Athena, he's just too dark to be one. Hah. Surly Nico, smart as heck but got the personality only Hades' kid can have," she grinned.

Line break

"Percy!" Thalia called innocently. We snickered from the corner of the room we were hiding in.

"Yeah guys? What's up—Ahh!" He screamed as a bucket of water fell from where it was precariously balanced on the top of the door. The bucket landed loudly on the floor and water splashed all over the place. Percy however stood dry as ever.

My mouth flopped open, "Dang it Thalia! Son of Poseidon, he can't Get wet!"

She opened her mouth to retort but closed it, as she knew she was wrong. She smiled awkwardly and shouted, "RUN!"

She took off down the hall as I gaped, "Er…" I smiled at Percy innocently.

"Didn't think that through did you?"

I nodded meekly.

"It's okay," he held up a finger to his mouth and pointed. The water started floating up back into the bucket and he used the water to put it back on top of the door.

"Hey, hey Annabeth come here!" he shouted.

"Yeah Perce?" Annabeth walked in while she was trying to tie up her hair. The second she pushed the door the bucket dumped water onto her. Percy and I burst into laughter as she screamed in surprise and anger.

"PERCY JACKSON! You Fish Head!" she yelled.

Percy and I looked at each other and grinned before darting after Thalia.

Line Break

"Anything you want Thals, what seems to be calling you?" Percy asked her. We were in his family's shed trying to find a weapon for Thalia to use, but she hadn't had any luck yet. She'd tried out different sized swords and knives, daggers and maces. The closest she'd gotten was a bow and arrow, but that was a long range weapon and frankly, Percy wasn't exactly the greatest archer to teach her.

"I'm sorry Perce, there just really isn't anything here that I like…" Thalia sighed sadly.

"It's no problem Thals, there's plenty of other weapons at camp, but for now just take this sword. It was the best short range weapon for you, we can find a better one later," Percy said optimistically.

Thalia smiled and threw her arms around Percy murmuring into his chest, "Thank you."

Line Break

"Thalia stop swinging at me and let me teach you!" Percy yelled as Thalia hacked away at the dummy, almost hitting him. I laughed at the two, Percy had given her a sword earlier today and Thalia was extremely excited. To the point of exhaustion even. She named her sword αστραπή or lightning. It was about the size of mine and made of celestial bronze, but Thalia said she felt the weight was off. Percy reassured her they'd get her fitted for a new weapon at camp in a few weeks, so she nodded and smiled.

"Alright thank you," Percy said, bringing me back to the present. Percy looked at Thalia and smiled.

"So you want to keep your…" he continued but I tuned him out and looked at the clouds. I was currently sitting on Annabeth's lap, a habit I had taken to ever since my sister had died. She rested her chin on my head and wrapped her arms around my waist. I smiled; I had a home with these people. Percy, the fun one, Annabeth, the responsible one, and then Thalia and I. Two parts of a whole.

Line Break

"Come on let's go! Everyone in the car guys!" Sally shouted. It was finally the end of the year. Percy passed his finals with flying colors, thanks to Annabeth. The four of us packed our bags; Annabeth, Thalia, and I had accumulated some clothes thanks to Sally. I had about five outfits, as did Thalia. Annabeth had slightly more, since she was older and liked to indulge a bit.

I smiled at Thalia, today was the day. It was a few hours of driving away, but that was nothing. I felt like I had waited my whole life for this day. I could tell the others were just as thrilled as me to finally be on our way to Camp Half-Blood.

We piled in to the Paul's minivan and buckled in; Sally and Paul climbed in the front and turned on the radio as we pulled out of the driveway.

"You could be the one, you could be the one, you could be the one, one, one, one, one!" the four of us kids chorused. We laughed as Hannah Montana's song played on the radio. We normally didn't listen to that kind of music, but the euphoria of the day had gotten to us. The car zoomed past the open country, passing trees, cows, fields and other inconsequential things. We giggled and swayed together, smiling all the way. Hours past that we spent singing and playing car games and enjoying the drive together, until we entered New York state limits anyways. Then things took a turn for the worse.

"Annabeth look, we're entering New York!" Thalia shouted; we all glanced happily out the window. Suddenly the car veered to the right, everyone falling on each other and the car doors. We screamed and reached for our weapons, which had been disguised thanks to the Mist and magic.

I was about to activate my sword, but Paul shouted over the chaos, "It's okay you guys, we just blew a tire. I'll get out and fix it right now; you guys can go play over there." He pointed over to a clearing by the woods on the side of the road. The four of us nodded and exited the car, bringing our weapons with us. Sally and Paul immediately began working on the car, Sally knew how dangerous it was for us to be in the open for long periods of time.

The four of us ran into the clearing, playing tag when we heard a rustle in the bushes. I bit my lip and tapped on Percy's shoulder. As I pointed to the bushes Percy nodded and pulled out his sword, ready for an attack.

As soon as he stepped forward a large white rabbit jumped out of the shrubbery. We laughed awkwardly, embarrassed about how scared we were but still breathing out a sigh of relief. We relaxed for a moment, a big mistake on our part.

Behind us came a large rumbling; we turned around to see the one and only Minotaur charging full speed at us.

We screamed, or at least I did. It all moved so fast, we barely had a chance to ready our weapons. With a large puff of air it charged and tried to attack Thalia and I.

"NO!" Percy shouted and tackled us, rolling out of the way with us in hand just in time.

He pushed us off to the side, "Guys stay here, I don't want you to get hurt, this monster is too much for you. Let me and Annabeth take care of it okay?"

"But Percy we could…" Thalia stuttered, the fear in her voice evident for her "older sliblings."

"Thalia, no….He's right, let them handle it okay? We'll only get in the way, go Percy. I'll make sure we're safe," I said calmly. Percy nodded gratefully before whisking away to help Annabeth, who had her hat on and was currently trying to sneak up on the monster.

Percy dived into a slide trying to slash at his knees but the Minotaur kicked him as he aimed to hack up. As Percy cried out in pain and clutched his side Annabeth finally got a chance to stab the Minotaur. He bellowed in pain, but sadly her dagger wasn't long enough to do any real damage. Impossibly fast for its large size the Minotaur turned around and rammed Annabeth into a tree. The blonde hair demigod screamed in pain, the Minotaur's right horn grazing her side.

"No! Nico we have to help, come on!" Thalia pulled on my hand pleadingly.

"Thalia, no we can't! You heard Percy, he said stay Here! If we go out there they'll have to worry about protecting us!" I bit my lip, I didn't want to watch them get hurt. I knew I had to do something.

"I don't care, I can't leave them to die!" she cried. I looked at her pitifully, then glanced back at the battle. Percy had just gotten thrown off the Minotaur's back and landed on top of Annabeth with a groan. Annabeth lay on the floor unmoving, as Percy rolled off of her. He shook her side, "Annie? Wise Girl? No, no, please wake up, don't die on me now!" Percy screamed in frustration.

Thalia looked at me with big blue eyes, "Nico they're losing! You have to let me do Something! Get them out of there! Use your shadows, come on!"

The Minotaur raised his club like hand above the two, Percy raised his sword to protect himself and Annabeth, but I could tell from the trajectory he didn't stand a chance. I grabbed Thalia's hand and ran over to the two wounded heroes. The club start descending and I screamed, I threw myself over my three friends, vaguely hearing Percy's parents scream, and everything went black.

_Away_, I thought. I felt a pull in my gut and a falling sensation, my head wretched. I never shadow traveled anyone other than Thalia and this Hurt. Agonizingly. I felt myself tiring, energy drained from my body like water in a sink. A large shadow folded over us and the world went black.

Line Break

I moaned, where were we? I didn't have a place in mind when I shadow traveled us away. I peeked my eyes open to be met with nothingness, I shook my head confused. Where are we? I felt shadows lick my face and arms, I moaned tiredly. Shadows wrapped around us, swirling and moving with my thoughts. Sporadic bright holes opened up momentarily, but not long enough to see outside. I tried to open one of them but couldn't find the concentration to free us from the shadow's grasp. My eyes drifted closed as my thoughts faded away to nothing. _Another time…after a nap…_ and I began floating in a sea of nothingness with the three people I was closest to.

**Short chapter guys ): sorry, but it was necessary. What happens to our four favorite heroes? Find out in the next chapter! Review fast for faster writing ! IF I get enough I'll try to work on this more. Anyone have any ideas? Let me know! And I'll give a special shout out to someone who can give me the best summary for the story! Because my summary sucks honestly, help me? Favorite chapter? Favorite moment? Anyone want to beta? Whose POV next? There's a box for your answer to all these questions… (; **


	6. Coming Back

**"**_**We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." – E.E Cummings **_

_**Warning: long author notes…please read though.**_

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever?**

**YAY my longest chapter! Thank you SummerSpirit for the help with the summary, this is a belated chapter I know (more than a month! wow), but I only got a few reviews on the last chapter! I know I have more readers than that! So thanks to those who reviewed, as well as those who subscribed/favorited! I certainly want to hear from you please! And to Helen, Annabeth is older because I just don't think having 3 little kids on their own without any kind of older, leader figure in their lives would be very good at all…like seriously bad stuff right there.**

** I don't own PJO, but enjoy my chapter!**

Chapter Six: Coming Back

I was sitting on the floor playing with my favorite stuffed animal, Mrs. O'Leary, when the world started shaking; my sister sat next to me holding on tight. I screamed when the pictures fell off the wall. My mom was at work, so it was just us at home. I was four but I remember every detail like it was yesterday; my sister was only twelve at the time, but she was very mature for her age. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her to the basement. When I started moving too slow she scooped me into her arms and carried me away. I held on to Mrs. O'Leary and bawled into its plush fur. I cried for my mommy, my wails growing louder in distress. The walls caved in more and more until my sister and I were safe in the basement. Being underground made us feel safer, but adrenaline still rushed through our veins. I screamed again for my mom, but Bianca hushed me. I remember exactly what she said word for word.

"Nico, listen to me. I'm here okay? Mom, Dad, they aren't. They never are and they never will be. But you and I are going to stick together and we'll be together forever. Forever, okay?"

I nodded out of fear rather than understanding. I didn't know what was going on, I cried some more.

"NICO LISTEN TO ME. NICO!" the world shattered as I bolted out of my sleep. I gasped into the darkness, screaming.

A large blob of a face hovered above mine. She murmured my name quietly; I could hear the tears in her voice. It was a familiar voice, but I couldn't quiet put a name to it. It wasn't my sister for sure, my… Bianca…. she was… dead. That was the first time the word forever was broken for me. Then who was this? I… blue eyes flashed into my memories followed by dark hair, pale skin, and pink cheeks. Memories of running through the forest, fighting, laughing, sleeping…Thalia. My new sister. I was confused; she was too big to be Thalia…but I couldn't mistake that voice.

"Th…Thalia?" my voice was hoarse from disuse. I saw the blob bob up and down. The darkness was getting to me, being a son of Hades it was slightly better but I could barely see a thing. It looked like the walls were clamped around us, protecting us from the outside.

"Nico, where are we? I…I remember the Minotaur…that's it," I could tell she was biting her lip. I couldn't see it, but I knew she was. Recollections of the Minotaur attack flashed before me, making me dizzy. I remembered jumping on my three companions…shadow traveling us to…where…? I don't know. Somewhere. Away I said…

"I…I don't know where we are, Tha…Thalia? Where's Percy and Annabeth?" my breath caught in my throat. I started to panic at the thought of losing the rest of our small family. I backed up and started to press up against the wall of the room. Wait. Room. I looked around, small holes moved sporadically across the ceiling and sides of the round room.

"Thalia, look around! We aren't in a room, these…these are shadows. I can get us out! I…!" I started backing up excitedly before I fell over. I had tripped over a soft mass. A body. I tried to get the ball to let a little more light in, it complied submissively. I looked down to see the bodies of Percy and Annabeth. I let out a sigh of relief, as did Thalia. I looked at her, finally seeing her. I gasped and fell over, Thalia falling the other way.

"I…You…look older. What? Bigger…" we stumbled out incoherently. I looked at the older demigods, who had also seemed to miraculously age.

I started hyperventilating, losing all concentration. The ball started flickering and I vaguely head Thalia shouting at me to calm down. Percy and Annabeth started to moan tiredly, woken up by our distress.

All of a sudden there was a loud crashing sound, like breaking glass that erupted from around us. The shadows fell apart as I lost control. My newly awakened companions looked around bewildered before Annabeth, ever so calm, pointed behind me. I turned around quickly, noting to pull out my sword if needed. I heard screamed, of strangers. I looked around; a red velvet rope surrounded me and my friends. Percy pushed himself onto his shoulders.

"Are…we in an exhibit?" Percy stuttered out. Thalia and I looked at each other questioningly, our warped ages forgotten for the moment.

"I…think so," I whispered back to my group, the four of us unconsciously gravitating to each other.

Annabeth looked at the ceiling, "Guys look, read. It says "Welcome to Away, Montana. Home of the Alien Shadow Ball. It appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the forest in front of a few hikers. No one knows what it is or where it came from." She stole a glance at me, her face letting me know we were going to talk about this later.

Our backs finally touched, all of us standing. Mortals started at us in shock, I bit my lip and took a chance.

"RUN!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My friends and I took off for the exit, I prayed to Hermes for speed, but our bodies were new and unused. Only our enhanced demigod abilities kept us from the grasp of the confused mortals. We pushed our way out of the museum and into the forest. I found a patch of brush big enough for us to hide in if I used the shadows to help. I pointed, the others getting my message. A few moments after we got situated a hoard of mortals thundered past looking for us yelling "Aliens, get them! Get them!"

We held our breath as they passed.

Once the mob passed I heard Annabeth release a long sigh before looking up, "Nico! You're… old." I looked down at my hands, they were bigger then I remember, I was speechless looking between the friends I met what seems like a few weeks ago, only to find that it must have been about three years at least. Everyone had the same expression, examining the changes that took place in that my shadow ball. I had expected to just shadow travel us away but something must've went wrong. I heard to mob coming back, as did everyone else.

"Guys we got to get out of here, fast. The mortals are coming back; Percy, go that way," Annabeth pointed going deeper into the forest. The four of us followed as Percy led the way through the brush. After a few minutes we came into a clearing, Percy looked around before giving us the okay to move ahead. There was a small, lone cabin that had its laundry hanging outside on a clothes line. I thanked the gods for our luck; there was enough male and female clothing for all of us. We quickly grabbed it and changed out of our too small clothing. I heard the girls give off a sigh of relief, followed by a giggle at the "red neck" clothing we were wearing.

Annabeth took charge, being the oldest of us, "Okay so I virtually have no clue what the heck as happened, and what we're going to do now but we need to find the town, blend in, and figure out how to get to Camp Half-Blood. Alright? And well…figure out how long it's been since the Minotaur…" She bit her lip.

Percy sniffled, realization in his eyes, "My…my mom must think I'm dead…" I patted his back.

"It'll be okay Perce, I'm sure she'll understand. We'll call her when we get to town okay?" my voice cracked.

He nodded sadly, hurt by the fact that his parents could've been mourning this whole time. Quickly we made our way out of the forest into the town of Away, Montana. It was a small town, but big enough for us to travel about unnoticed. Annabeth used her invisibility hat to snag us some food before we got deep into town. It was summer time, so walking around unnoticed was easy enough, but covering up Thalia's scream when she found out it had been three years since we were last awake…not so easy. A large man ran over, obvious concern written on his face, and asked us what was wrong.

Annabeth quickly covered, claiming there was a large spider on Thalia's back. He laughed and patted me on the back, "Girls right?"

I smiled meekly before shying away from the large man's touch. We thanked him for his concern and sauntered away quickly. We found a payphone a few blocks away; I gave Percy the last of my change to call his mom. We backed away, wanting to give the demigod some privacy.

About fifteen minutes later Percy stepped away from the phone booth, tears running down his eyes. Annabeth quickly stepped up and gave him a hug, murmuring softly into his ear. I wondered idly what happened, but knew it was a question for a later time. After another minute or so Percy's tears ran dry, being a demigod giving him a better sense of calmness in bad situations.

He looked meekly at us before gathering himself, "Alright, we gotta find out how long it's been and how we can get back to camp…"

"How 'bout there?" Thalia pointed at a small diner with some newspaper machines outside.

"Good thinking Thals, we'll check the newspaper," Annabeth ruffled her hair, which had grown down to her back. Now that I thought about it, adrenaline finally leaving my veins, all of our hair was long. Mine being past my shoulders, as was Percy's, who had also developed quite a bit of scruff around his chin and lip area. The girls' hair drifted to their waists, but was impossibly untangled. I guess the ball kept us safe from All aspects of the world. I shuddered, wondering how I had done that.

"Helloooo, Neeeeekkssssss," Thalia drawled in my ear, bringing me out of my pondering.

I jumped up, "Huh? What?"

"I said we were going to go eat at the diner over there, Percy still has his wallet with him."

I nodded before following Thalia and the rest into the diner quietly. We sat down rather quickly and ordered even quicker, apparently the ball kept us nourished enough to live for an extended period of time without nutrients but we were still ravenous. Everything looked good. We ended up ordering four burgers and four milkshakes, asking for a newspaper while we were at it. The waitress nodded before walking away to get our food.

"You know…for technically being in a coma for the past few years I feel pretty good, like no aches or anything," Percy smiled goofily, trying to lighten up the mood as usual. He sat by Annabeth in the booth, while Thalia and I sat together.

"Yeah, I kind of have my theories about the uh…ball," I trailed off, my brain whirring with possibilities. "When I teleported us out I was thinking 'AWAY' which is obviously what brought us here. But I also just wanted us to all be safe. The ball must've taken that as a command and protected us from all types of danger, both outside and inside."

I bit my lip awkwardly until someone spoke up. And by someone I meant Annabeth, who eventually picked up what I was saying.

"Oh my gosh how could I have not realized, it did the same thing as…"

"Vesna Voluvic," we finished together. **(A/N: she actually did get really hurt (fractured skull, two broken legs and paralyzed from the waist down) but for the sake of this fic she didn't)**

Percy coughed and looked at us funny, while Thalia just twiddled her thumbs. She had heard me prattle on about her for days after I found out she was a daughter of Hades as well, but neither of us would've guessed I had the same power. In fact, no child of Hades had, had it since her.

I perked up to explain to the still confused Percy Jackson, "So Vesna was on a Yugoslavic plane when it was blown up by terrorists. The plane disintegrated and landed in the mountains, but she survived the 33,000 feet drop. She made a ball around herself and escaped in tact… she had lied and said she wasn't on the plane but we demigods know the real story."

By the end of my rant Percy was thoroughly impressed, but got distracted by the plates of food coming our way. I was immensely glad that Sally had given Percy a debit card for moments like this. I drooled slightly, abashed by my almost animalistic nature, but admittedly it had been years since I've eaten.

Our waitress, smacking her gum loudly set down our food before handing us our newspaper and walking away. Annabeth quickly grabbed it, being the least dyslexic of the group of us.

"Ahtusgu? August…uhm I'm thinking 27th not 72nd… of 2006?" she stuttered out. "Oh gods…guys it's been three years."

"Did…did you say August 27th? I…Guys I'm fifteen…that means…oh gods the prophecy. We need to get to camp now…now." He grabbed his burger before shoving a handful of fries in his mouth. He waved the waitress over, "We need some to-go boxes and the check ASAP."

The waitress narrowed her eyes but nodded and scurried off. Being demigods we were all used to acting first questions later but at the word prophecy all of our brains were whirring. What was Percy not telling us? Did we even want to know? The second the waitress was back at our table with our things we were out of the door. Percy led the way, storming down the street as fast as he could without being suspicious. He quickly made his way into a travel agency shop and grabbing a map. Thalia and I held hands and followed quickly behind, wondering what the older demigod was doing. I blushed, trying not to think about the fact that we were older and holding hands would be weird. She had soft hands…I shook my head. What was I thinking? Thalia is like a sister to me. I blew outward, my bangs getting in front of my eyes. As I tuned back into the conversation I saw Percy hunched over a table with Annabeth trying to look at the map.

"We need to find the fastest way back to New York without being on the streets," Percy said. Annabeth nodded obediently, which was weird. But then again angry Percy is a force to be reckoned with. I shook it off, glancing at the map. Annabeth had pulled out a pen and was making lines across the map, her "Athena gears" mapping out the best possible routes. I sat quietly munching on fries while Thalia, who had finished her food, munched on mine as well. I rolled my eyes, three years older and she was still doing the same things. I guess things didn't always change.

"Alright let's move guys, we need to be quick," Percy ordered. I looked at him funny, Percy was usually so laid back and calm, I wondered what was going on. I made a mental note to ask him when we stopped for the night, if Annabeth didn't beat the answer out of him first. She was being compliant now, but that's because she knew he was upset about something. I'm sure she'd chew him up later.

"But Percy, the sun is setting soon, shouldn't we wait until morning?" Thalia screwed up her face, she had grown used to sleeping in a bed everything and was repulsed by the thought of sleeping out in the open again.

"Look Thals…I'm sorry okay? We just have to go. I'll explain when it gets too dark to keep moving, but right now we need to get a move on okay? Besides, it's not like I have money to get a hotel room. And eventually the mobs gonna get an ID on us…look we've been here long enough…" Percy trailed off before bustling in the direction of the forest.

Annabeth looked at us, "Don't worry guys, I'll make him talk once we set up for the night."

We watched her follow Percy before shrugging and trailing after them. So woods turned into fields, then back into woods until finally the sun set and it was too dark to move, Percy however continued plowing his way through the trees. Reluctantly we tried keeping up with the son of the sea god until Thalia tripped over some invisible brush. That's when I snapped.

"GODS DAMN IT PERCY! Will you stop it? I've been putting up with your urgency but this has gone far enough. Can't you see we can't make it anywhere like this? Its pitch black!" I was seething; finally yelling at him brought all my anger and confusion to the surface. I didn't mean to yell so much but I couldn't help it. It was all just too much for one day. I felt a wetness on my cheek before realizing I was crying. Tears of both fear and anger dripped down my face. I felt Thalia put a hand on my shoulder, willing me to calm down. I did. Slightly.

Percy turned around, there was enough light to give me a vague outline of his face. I heard him sigh, before replying, "You're right. Let's sit down, guys I have something to tell you…"

A few minutes later we had a small fire going and we were all seated around looking at Percy. He was chewing on the inside of his cheeks, running his hand through his hair. A few nervous ticks of his I'd picked up on the past few months.

"So…years ago, during WWII there was a prophecy. The Great Prophecy, one that dictated the fates of the gods themselves. That's when they made the pact that the big three wouldn't have any more children. Obviously the pact didn't work, hence the three of us. But it went like this.

_A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_Shall reach 16 against all odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_

Guys, the reason I'm freaking out so much is because in less than a year I'm going to die." Percy looked at us sadly.

We were all silent for awhile, too stunned to speak. Finally Annabeth's mouth started working again; she scooted over closer to Percy and put a hand on his shoulder, "Perce, you don't know that you're going to die. Prophecies don't always mean exactly what they say…"

Percy looked up at her, the fire making his eyes illuminate in the darkness, "And what could end his days mean? Look, thanks for trying to make me feel better but I'm going to die and there's nothing I can do about it." He looked away cynically, throwing the leaf he had been tearing up into the fire.

There weren't any more words to say after that, so well all laid down to try and get some rest. I could feel Thalia tossing and turning beside me, her head finally stilling on my chest as I looked at the sky. The thought of Percy being dead in less than a year just didn't seem real. My eyes started to droop tiredly, but right before I fell asleep I could see Annabeth move over to Percy's side to lay by him.

*Nico's dream

I groaned, rubbing my back as I sat up. Looking around I instantly recognized my father's palace, though I had only been once in a dream. I stood up, looking for my father when I heard a cough behind me. I turned around quickly before bowing.

"Stand my son; you have no reason to bow to your father. Now seeing as you have been tucked away for the past three years I assume you have some…questions that need answering?"

"Questions? Of course I have questions, what the heck was that? How did I Do that first of all? And how come you didn't come save me, Father?" I practically screamed. I was scared, but also angry at myself. I was taking it out on people, first Percy now my father. I was a mess, but I didn't really pay much mind to it considering I just woke up from a three year coma.

"Calm yourself. Do not forget who you are talking to Nico," Hades looked pointedly at me, causing me to cower down. "Now I hadn't expected you to be so powerful, Vesna was the only child of mine that could use that power in centuries. I knew you were up to great things Nico. You are the one that will bring pride back to the House of Hades. There is a storm coming Nico, and you shall be the center of it. I have already chosen my side, and I hope you will join me."

"What…what are you talking about Father? What side? Join who?" I was confused, what was going on exactly?

"You shall find out in time son. But for now, remember your origins and don't forget how much I have been wronged."

I was still confused; my father had done little to help me figure out why we had passed out for three years, but I nodded obediently.

"Now I have my theories as to why you passed out for three years Nico…but I'm not certain."

I looked up at him hopeful that he could shed some light. I still blamed myself for everything that has happened.

"I believe Perseus is not the child of the prophecy," he stated.

My mouth dropped, "But father, he's the first child of the Big Three to turn 16…" I shook my head in disbelief.

"I know son, but the prophecy is still a ways off. I can feel it in my gut. And the prophecy claimed it'd be a child of the eldest gods that reaches sixteen. That does not necessarily mean it needs to be the first. Remember what I told you about the storm? You shall lead this prophecy son. You shall dictate the fate of Olympus."

I shook my head, falling backwards I looked up at my father. How…no this couldn't be. Something was wrong…it couldn't be me…My vision flickered. I blinked, pushing away the dream hastily. I tried to forget about everything that had just happened…hopefully when I woke up it'd all just go away…

*end dream

I shot up quickly, my breathes coming out in pants. Slung over my shoulder was a pitch black bag, which was definitely not there when I went to sleep. Everyone was still fast asleep, the dawning sun just over the horizon. I looked over at Thalia, who was sprawled out over the floor and smiled before looking through the pack. Inside was food, ambrosia, nectar and everything else we might need on our journey, including drachmas and mortal money. I sighed; at least we were prepared now. I pulled out one of the drachmas before sitting down to inspect it. Slowly everyone else started to wake around me, groaning from aching backs.

"Nico? What's that? Is that a drachma…? I've only seen them in pictures…how'd you get that?" Annabeth pointed at the coin, her mouth parted open slightly in surprise.

"Oh I had a…uh dream last night. My dad gave me this," I lifted up the bag. "It's got food, ambrosia, nectar and money."

"Nico! You have no idea how good this is, we could call the Three…" she paused.

"The what?" Thalia narrowed her eyes, annoyed that Annabeth left us hanging. Percy on the other hand raised his finger to point above us while his other hand reached down to his pocket. Taking the hint Thalia and I turned around slowly, only to see the huge body of a nine headed hydra. I think I might've pissed myself. Saliva and acid dripped down the fangs on each of its mouths, its eyes glowing red. I remembered vaguely that you needed to cauterize the stumps after each decapitation; luckily we had Thalia on our side.

I whispered lowly, while reaching for my sword, "Thals, you need to get a few branches. Spark them enough to catch a fire. I need you and Annabeth to burn the stumps as soon as we cut the head off okay? Percy and I will take turns distracting and decapitating. I looked pointedly at the three of them, making sure they got the idea. All nodded so I whipped out my sword and turned around, quickly cutting through the first head. The hydra shrieked in rage before spitting at me, I dodged just in time to avoid it; Thalia coming in behind me to burn the hydra's wound. I made a note that Thalia and Annabeth both had torches, and that Percy had just cut off another one of the heads. I shadow traveled myself to the back of the hydra; my larger body did good to reach far enough to cut the head off quickly. I breathed in before bring down my sword and severing the third head. Thalia and Annabeth moved quickly, burning the neck before another head had a chance to grow. Another one of the heads snapped at me, the maw scraping my side. I screamed in agony before falling off of the back of the beast. I glanced down at my injured torso, which was torn open at the side. I sucked in a breath and stood up again, ignoring the searing pain. I could feel myself bleeding out, but I fought on anyway. After many ducks, dodges, and slices Percy and I finally killed the legendary monster. After the last stump was seared and scorched I fell to the ground. I heard Thalia scream before grabbing the backpack and running it over to me. She poured nectar into my wound before shoving a square of ambrosia into my mouth.

I grinned, "Thanks Thals…you did good." She looked at me before rolling her eyes.

"You did good too I guess, Death Breath." I looked at Thalia's blue eyes, knowing she was scared.

"I'm fine Thals, don't worry. No one else was hurt right?"

She shook her head thankfully, the two of us glancing at the older demigods. I realized that Annabeth must be 16 now, while Percy was 15. They were both old enough to date…I coughed, realizing where my train of thought was going. But low and behold the two were hugging, glued together. I laughed, as did Thalia, before we hugged each other closely as well.

"So Annie, what was it you were saying before the Hydra?" I inquired. We had taken a break to let me heal up from the hydra poison and were sitting around the campfire we had made the night before.

Her eyes lit up, remembering her idea, "So you guys have heard of the Gray sisters, right? Well they have a taxi system; we can use the drachma to bring us there. It'll cut down the trip by days!" Annabeth bounced excitedly, pleased with her contribution. Percy smiled and put an arm around her.

"Nice job Wise Girl, I wouldn't have thought of it," he said. Annabeth stuck out her tongue.

"That's because you're a Seaweed Brain, fish boy!"

"Hey! Two nick names in one sentence? That's just not cool!" Percy retorted, laughing at their antics. I rolled my eyes letting the two of them banter on. I lay tiredly against Thalia, still weak from the poison that had gotten into my cut.

My eyes started to close again tiredly while Thalia started to hum softly to me. My mind started to wander, still not yet grasping the fact that I was now twelve years old.

*Nico's dream **(A/N: Okay so though this is short it is slightly mature…not explicit at all! But if it makes you uncomfortable it'll make no major difference to the story to skip over it)**

_Soft lips pressed against mine, hands pressed against my lean chest. I growled involuntarily, letting my hands wonder. The girl hovered over me, hot breath on my neck. Slowly she worked her way down my neck and chest. I shivered and opened my eyes. Dark, long raven hair framed her small pale face. Startling blue eyes looked up at me, twinkling with mischievousness. I gasped realizing who it was on top of me. _

*end dream **(okay you can read now)**

My eyes stretched open quickly, surprised at the way my dream had turned out. My crotch felt funny, my pants tight in an awkward area. I sat up, scratching the back of my neck. I sat up, bringing my knees to my chest hoping that no one saw the bulge I had. I was confused, why was this happening? I shouldn't be thinking about Thalia like that. She was like my sister! I bit my lip looking around. Thankfully the rest of the group was playing a card game, which they had found in the backpack, on the other side of the clearing. I made a mental note to ask Percy about my problem later, again grateful that I was no longer the only guy in our group.

I made my way over to the three demigods and sat by Percy, trying to distance myself at least slightly away from Thalia. No one paid any attention to it, but I could see Percy raise an eyebrow at me before smirking a bit.

"Yo Neeks, I've gotta go to the bathroom, watch my back will you?"

I nodded before following him a bit away from the girls.

"So I don't really have to go," Percy grinned goofily at me.

"Then why did we…oh. You saw that?" Percy nodded, making me blush. "I don't know what happened…I was just dreaming…and…I don't know…"

Percy laughed, "Nah man, its normal. Same thing happened to me when I was your age. Luckily you get to miss out on the awkward father-son talk I had to get with Paul. But well…gods I'm too young to do this myself but here it goes. Guys get these dreams sometimes and it just feels good. So just do whatever feels good, I mean not in front of anyone. Do it when you're alone. But it just means you like a girl. Like…Like Like I mean." Percy coughed.

My face felt like it was on fire. I don't think I could forget this even if I tried, it was so mortifying. "Er…can we go back?"

"Yeah little man…let's go. You know you can ask me anything right? Just think of me as your older brother."

I smiled gratefully, "Sure thing…bro."

Percy grinned before running back to the girls, "Race you!"

"Hey! No fair!" and I ran after him. Hopefully that was the last awkward moment for the day…or week…month?

By the time we got back the girls had already packed up our entire camp. As we burst into the clearing, me a few seconds after Percy, the girls laughed.

Annabeth chuckled, "Glad you're feeling better Neeks. We can go now." She held up a drachma. "Let's call the sisters…Oh Gray Sister's take our offering and take us to Camp Half Blood."

As she threw the coin up it vanished into empty space. A second later we were blown onto our bottoms from the force of the car appearing. The door opened eerily, causing me to eye it suspiciously. But I obediently got into the car after everyone else.

The sickly ladies sat in the front, their hair gray and matted and their skin a disgusting shade of white. My eyes bugged when they turned around, Thalia and Percy wretched, while Annabeth looked on indifferently; the ladies only had one eye between the three of them! I shuddered at the story that led to that. Then I realized…they were driving us. And the person with the eye wasn't even at the wheel…

"Hey Annabeth I don't think this is a good ide-" I was cut off.

"Camp Half-Blood please," Annabeth asked politely.

"No, no Annabeth they don't have any eyes! The one driving is blind!" Annabeth looked at me before muttering under her breath. I vaguely heard her say the world shit a few times before shrugging and leaning into Percy.

Percy just held to Annabeth with his left arm, his right hand grasping the "Oh-shit bar" tightly. Thalia and I on the other hand tried to see out the window, but everything passed by so quickly it was almost impossible to notice anything. Another hour passed, or at least it seemed like an hour, and the car suddenly lurched to a stop. I heard a distant sound of quarreling old ladies, but figured the blocker between us and the front had muffled the sound of the Three Sisters.

Suddenly the door opened and the car tipped sideways sending us all falling out of the cab after Percy. We landed on the floor with an oof. Annabeth yelled out, "Hey what was that for? We aren't there yet!"

The middle sister, the one with the eye spoke up eerily, "Your payment was sufficient, but even we cannot stop fate. This is as far as we take you."

As I tried not to stare at the gaping holes of their eyes the one on the right spoke up, "There are powerful beings; we do not interfere with such. Good luck young demigods. And another thing…"

The middle sister continued, "Pempherdo may or may not have crashed the taxi." She glared accusingly with her one eye.

The last sister spoke up, a single tooth gleaning in her mouth, "Well I wouldn't have crashed it if you gave me the eye!"

The three began to quarrel about whose turn it was to drive, or have the eye. While they did that I noticed Percy motion for us to leave.

His eyes gleamed with hope and I knew we were almost to camp. "Guys, we're almost there, I know how to get to camp from here. It should be safe, my father will help us…but I'm warning you. We'll have to go through the water."

I bit my lip; Thalia and I were no friends to water, only learning how to swim because of Percy's insistence. We eventually nodded with acceptance and continued on our way.

We tripped over tree roots and got hit in the face with branches; it seemed as it nature itself was trying to stop us, but the four of us continued anyways. Eventually we came to a small dock on the lake. Was it a lake? I didn't know, and frankly I didn't care. I just wanted to get to camp and get this entire thing over with.

"Guys get in the boat, I'll give us a boost," Percy ordered. We complied, quickly piling into the small fisherman's boat. Percy hopped in behind us, giving the boat a little extra speed using his demigod powers. Within minutes we could see camp. The four of us looked at each other excitedly; our journey was finally coming to a close. We were "home".

Suddenly the boat lurched to the right. Annabeth glared at Percy causing him to hold up his hands innocently, "I didn't do it, swear!"

Suddenly it lurched again, causing Thalia to almost fall out of the boat. I caught her quickly, thank the gods. Well…at least I was until the largest monster I'd ever seen rose out of the water. A giant sea monster looked at us dead in the eye. Within minutes we were all battle positioned.

The monster took a lunge at us, but Percy got a chance to swipe it away. He stabbed it in the nose, but that only seemed to make it angrier. We looked at each other, there was no way we could defeat it. Percy looked at the monster, then again at us.

"Guys you have to go. Take the boat and get into the borders of camp, it can't get past those. I'll find a way to beat the monster; I'm the only one that can fight without being confined the boat."

Annabeth looked at him in horror, "Percy you'll die! You can't do this you, Seaweed Brain." She looked as if she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry Beth, I have to…I'll come back to you Wise Girl. Always okay? Forever." And they kissed. Annabeth pulled him close and mashed their lips together. Percy pulled away, but I could see in his eyes he didn't want to. It was too soon.

He hopped out of the boat, pushing it away as he did so. We accelerated toward camp as we watched Percy attack the monster while standing on the water. His sword hacked away at the monster, but it did no difference. I held on to Thalia and Annabeth, all of us holding our breaths while silent tears leaked out of our eyes.

Percy finally got a chance to dodge the monster and use his water powers to bring him above the monster, he held Riptide above his head ready to strike. Hope flickered in my heart; it looked like he was going to beat the monster, but suddenly there was a flash of light and instead of a giant sea monster a large man with a huge trident stood looking at Percy.

_Oceanus_. My mind supplied the name to the cold, hard face. Oceanus brought down his trident on Percy, whose sword flicked upward just in time. I wanted to look away so bad, but I couldn't…and so I saw the Titan's power become too much and Percy fall to the Sea Titan. Annabeth let out a scream of anguish and she tried to throw herself off the boat.

"Nooo!" she lamented, anguish evident in her voice. Thalia and I jumped forward to hold her into the boat. Tears streamed down my face and Thalia's. The three of us held each other tightly as we watched the boy that had become our brother sink into the water. Our boat drifted further from him and closer to camp, our hearts reached out to the son of Poseidon.

Again there was another flash of light and standing there was a burly man with black hair and a short beard. He was holding a bigger trident, this one made of Imperial Silver. _Poseidon_. Oceanus glared at him, before turning into a puddle of water and fleeing. After the threat left Poseidon fell to his knees and lifted his son into his arms.

And then right before our eyes we saw our Percy, our brother, turn into a beautiful ice marble column. Inside of it stood Riptide, proud and bold inside of the sculpture that was once its loyal and faithful owner. All of us cried, but I knew I wasn't the only one happy that Percy will never be forgotten. Percy's father looked at us, finding the three of us cowering in the boat. He nodded at us before flashing away. Annabeth was still wailing, muttering how Percy promised. Forever he said. He said forever to all of us. And that was the second time the word Forever failed me.

The boat docked, apparently it had a while ago, but we were so distraught and caught up in our own laments to do anything about it. By the time I looked up there were campers surrounding us, along with an old centaur and a chubby Dionysus.

I cleared my throat, holding Thalia to my chest, "Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon is dead. We…we need a shroud."

The surrounding demigods let out a collective gasp realizing it was the camper they had been missing for the past three years. Everyone started talking to each other at once, even Chiron looked utterly surprised.

After awhile everyone quieted into an awkward silence, until a girl around my age stepped out from a group of large burly kids. "So who are you?"

"I…I'm…" my voice shook. "My name is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and I'm twelve years old."

Thalia finally turned from hiding her face in my chest. Her voice was bolder now, though still shaky, "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, and I'm thirteen years old." The two of us glanced at Annabeth, letting the crowd take that in.

Annabeth, who had stopped sobbing and quieted down to silent tears, licked her lips before opening her mouth. "Annabeth…Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena, I'm sixteen years old."

Chiron galloped forward a little, "All hail Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, and Annabeth Chase, welcome to Camp Half-Blood." He bowed his head as everyone murmured their welcome.

"Now children, please continue with your activities. Nico? Thalia? Annabeth, will you please come with me? I can tell you've…been through a lot today; I shall permit you to skip tonight's activities. I will show you to your cabins, but please come to the Big House in the morning when you are rested up," Chiron pointed at a large white house near the other edge of camp.

First to be dropped off was Annabeth, who was quickly led into her cabin by her siblings. Thalia and I looked at each other sadly, wishing the three of us could be together. A few moments later we stopped at a grand white cabin with lightning bolts and huge columns. Chiron stopped, "This is your cabin Thalia, since you're the only known child of Zeus right now you'll be the only one here…and uhm Nico…you'll be with the Hermes cabin…since your father doesn't…have one…"

I growled, facepalming that I had forgotten about that. Thalia wrapped an arm around me, "Hey it's okay Neeks, you'll stay with me. It's a big cabin and I'm by myself so it's alright."

Chiron shifted awkwardly, "Thalia, I don't think your father will be very happy with that…"

Thalia looked at him deadly, "Well Dad can fuck off then." Thunder rumbled and Chiron looked at the sky nervously. I shrugged, Thalia wasn't easily controlled so I was used to her brash nature. Before I knew it I was being pulled into the Zeus cabin by a haughty Thalia while Chiron just shook his head.

I called out behind me, "Don't worry Chiron we'll be at the Big House tomorrow!"

After he left I looked at Thalia who was sitting on the bed petting her new comforter, "I'm sorry about that Nico…I just didn't want to be alone…not so soon after…Percy." She hiccupped, "Oh gods, Percy…"

"I know Thals, I know," I held her close while we sat in our sadness on the big bed. I couldn't believe that just earlier this morning I was getting "the talk" from Percy and now he was dead. I don't know how long we were sitting there holding each other, but we must've fallen asleep because next thing I know I was in my father's domain once again.

*Nico's dream

"Father! Father, help me!" I looked for him.

He sat in his throne as usual, "Yes Nico?" he looked at me expectantly.

"You could let me see him! Let me see Percy, Father!" I pleaded, I wanted to say goodbye…I wasn't ready to let go. I was strong for Thalia and Annabeth but I was still upset.

Hades looked at me sadly, "Nico, you know I can't let you do that. It's against the Ancient Laws…besides, his spirit isn't here…I believe that due to my brother's…grief, his spirit was trapped in that marble contraption."

The sliver of hope I had disappeared quickly to be replaced with anger. I was angry at my father, though I knew it wasn't his fault. I just couldn't help myself.

"You knew this was going to happen didn't you?"I shouted accusingly at him. Even while dreaming my voice was laced with sadness at Percy's death.

"Nico. Calm down. I didn't know that the sea spawn was going to die. Oceanus' attack was a recent development…but now I know I was right about you being the child of the prophecy. It's coming Nico, and I expect you to be ready."

"Don't talk about Percy like that! And Thalia is older than me…no, no Father you can't be saying that! She won't die! She won't!"

"Nico! I'm your father, and a god, I will not tolerate being spoken to like that," his voice crackled with anger and venom. "I will forgive you this once, since you are upset at the death of your friend."

"Thalia will not die Father…she won't!" I looked away from him, tears welling at the thought.

"You need to distance yourself Nico! She's going to betray you sooner or later, son! They all do…those Olympian spawn care nothing about my children and I. You're no different than the rest of them. They all say their friends will stay true to them but they all turn out wrong! She will turn her back on you, son. You will know where your loyalties lie then…" he looked at me almost pityingly, his eyes laced with power. "Don't forget about the storm son…don't forget where you need to side."

*end dream

I shot out of bed, my eyes were sticky with tears and my arm was asleep from Thalia laying on it. I looked at her. I knew she wouldn't betray me, not Thalia. I smiled sadly and kissed her on the side of her head before lying back down and holding her until she woke up. I thought about what my father said, _what does he mean where I need to side? Shouldn't it be the same as everyone else?_

**UGH I have to be honest with you; I really don't like this chapter…important as it is. Laughing at the awkward moments Nico has this chapter [x don't worry. That's probably the last of it, I just wanted some comedic relief and to make one of my fans happy. You know who you are[; so unless I get more requests on something like that you probably won't see it again this story. As for the rest of the chapter, it's so sad what happened to Percy ): poor Annabeth, can't imagine what she'd be feeling. So sad. So sad. But at least they're at camp now? All safe and sound…or are they? **

**Anyways it might be awhile until the next chapter. School's starting up and this is a hobby not a job so xD unless you guys want to pay me, it'll be awhile. Sorry :[ but keep reviewing and spreading my story around the FF world! I want at least double the reviews as the last chapter, can we do that? PLEASE? If we can either double the reviews or get every single one of my followers/favoriters to say something I'll do something special! Make a girl's dream come true? I love y'all :] **

**So on top of your thoughts for the last chapter…**

**TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE SECOND PJO MOVIE? What'd y'all think/do you plan to watch it/etc. I honestly hated it. It was worse than the last one, I mean what were they thinking? **

**Another thing…so my friend is trying to write a story but I can't seem to convince them it's a great idea! So here's their summary::**

**Before World War Two the eldest of the gods made no promises about their children, resulting in great wars and an abundance of powerful heroes. When Hades attempts to overthrow Olympus it results in horrible losses, unhealthy alliances, and obstacles that will test the meaning of life, love, and loyalty.**

**Looking to see if you guys would be interested in reading something like that?**


	7. Claimed

**A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever?**

CHAPTER 7: Claimed

YES YES I know it's been forever. I'm sorry! I really am, everytime I tried to work on it I ended up getting distracted and the second I do it somehow all got deleted. So pardon the bad grammar and the shortness of the chapter. The next one will be longer, I'm still looking for a beta btw. Enjoy! I don't own anything.

_**"Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses."**_

_**-Ann Landers**_

The light was blinding me, as if it was trying to get me out of bed. But then again it could've been, I was in Zeus' cabin after all. I looked down at the girl in my arms; she looked so peaceful, though her eyes were still puffy from all the crying. _Percy's not really dead_, my thoughts seemed to speak to me. I quickly quenched them, there's nothing I could do about it. Percy might not be dead, but he wasn't here and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I had to admit it saddened me though, how he couldn't be happy in Elysium.

Thalia stirred beside me while I mulled over the events of the past day. We were supposed to be burning Percy's shroud today…and we're supposed to meet Chiron for our first day of camp.

"Thalia, wake up. We have to go see Chiron at the Big House," I poked her softly. She moaned before sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Can we just stay in bed a little longer? I…I don't want to get up yet…" I looked at her sadly.

"No Thals, we should go. We need to check up on Annabeth." She nodded in agreement before pulling herself up.

"Okay, for Annie…" she sighed. "Do you really think we can keep going?"

I smiled sadly at her, "We have to…for Percy." After that we walked together to the Big House to meet Chiron. Annabeth was already there by the time we walked onto the porch, she was sitting there with a mug of coffee in her hands. Her eyes were puffy as well, red from crying herself to sleep. I knew that out of all of us she had taken Percy's death the hardest, I didn't have the heart to tell her about my dream. I couldn't raise her hopes like that.

She looked at us sadly before putting an arm around my shoulder as the three of us made our way to the living room of the Big House. Chiron was in his "wheelchair" at the table playing some kind of card game with Dionysus. The wine god looked up, "Oh look, the twerps are here." He rolled his eyes and walked away leaving us with the ancient trainer. I scowled after the chubby man before looking at Chiron.

"Nico, Thalia, Annabeth, how are you feeling today?" he questioned. We all shrugged in answer, how good could you be after a day like yesterday? He nodded in understanding, "Yes it always is hard to lose someone you care about."

We sat silently.

"Can one of you tell me what happened? From the beginning?" he looked between the three of us. I nodded; I seemed to be the only one capable of telling the full story.

I started on that fateful day that I had run into the two girls that would one day become all I have. Chiron sat silently through the tale that had become our life, Thalia making comments here and there. Adding in what I had left out, whether it be from lack of memory or lack of being conscious. Annabeth on the other hand sat silently staring at her mug, sniffling every now and then when we mentioned Percy's name.

When I had finished the story Chiron looked at the three of us with surprise and pity, and maybe even a little bit of fear. I guess I could understand why, we were two children of the Big Three, me being a son of Hades. I shuddered, my father…he's been so weird lately. I know he cares about me and all but for some reason all he's been talking about is power and that prophecy. What is coming? And how close is it? I thought about mentioning it to the old centaur, but decided against it. No use making the whole camp paranoid just because of my whimsical thoughts.

"I see…there is absolutely nothing else?" he looked at me pointedly. I looked up at him, staring defiantly back.

"No, sir." He nodded in reply.

"Very well, Luke? Will you come here?" he called out the door. A blonde boy walked into the room, his eyes twinkling mischievously. His lips were turned up in a snarky "bad-boy" smile, while his hair was slicked back. He walked confidently, but when he saw us I saw his shoulders fall back into a sad slouch, as if he was trying to look sad.

"Hey guys," his voice was soft. "I'm Luke Castellan, I'm the Hermes cabin leader." He held out his hand for us to shake. Thalia and I just nodded while Annabeth looked at him quizzically. He smiled at her, "I heard about what happened to Percy. I'm sorry, he was a good guy. It's too bad he's leaving behind such a pretty girl…"

I growled, sticking my hand in front of Thalia as she tried to push past me. Annabeth glared at us, obviously upset that her "kid-siblings" were looking out for Her instead of the other way around, before looking back at Luke, "Look, I'm not exactly in the mood for stupid pricks hitting on me right now."

He held up his hands in surrender, "I totally understand, I didn't mean to offend you. I just want to offer my condolences."

She sighed, "Okay, sorry I'm just…having a bad day."

"I get it, don't worry…come on. I'll show you guys around the place, huh?"

I nodded, looking at Thalia for approval, "We're game, what about you Annabeth?"

Thalia touched her arm causing her to recoil quickly, "I'm fine guys, let's go. Lead the way, Castellan."

Thalia and I walked close to each other, our hands brushing as we leaned in close to each other.

"I don't know how I feel about this guy, he looks too…" Thalia trailed off.

"Fake?" I offered up. She nodded grimly.

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him." We nodded at each other comfortingly as we followed the two older demigods into the center of camp. Demigods, satyrs and pegasi wandered the camp grounds. The cabins were huge, I finally got a clear view of it now. They were set up in a U shape, twelve…missing my father's I thought bitterly. I could see the rock wall in the distance, as well as the lake, Percy's memorial standing high above the water. I looked at it sadly, he should be here with us…

Thalia nudged me, drawing me back to Luke's conversation with Thalia. "This is the sword fighting arena; I'm the teacher of this class. They say I'm the best swordsman they've seen in years," Luke boasted making me narrow my eyes at him. "And there is the classroom, we have classes every Tuesday and Thursday to teach about Greek mythology, but there's a lot of books over there too. The Athena cabin always keeps it stocked with the latest novels in Greek, so it doesn't mess with our dyslexia. I always find comfort over there, nothing like losing yourself in a book right?" he looked at her subtly.

Annabeth looked at him in wonder, his blue eyes glittering thoughtfully. She tapped her finger to her mouth, grief forgotten, "Really? What's your favorite book?"

"I'd have to say I love Dante's Inferno… I know with the whole Greek gods thing I shouldn't really believe in heaven or hell, but it's an amazing story and a great journey…" Luke looked off into the distance.

_Bah,_ _he looks like he's in some cheesy romance movie,_ I thought silently. Annabeth's mouth dropped, "You're kidding right? I Love Dante's Inferno! It's a classic! Almost no one gets it the way I do, what's your favorite section?"

I rolled my eyes, _is this guy serious?_ I gave Thalia the look, knowing she was thinking the same thing. We started to wander off as the two got into a lively discussion about the Inferno book.

"So what do you think about this place," Thalia looked at me with her big blue eyes.

I grimaced, "I don't know Thals, I guess it's nice and all…it just seems so…bogus, ya know?"

She nodded, "Yeah, we get that a lot. But c'mon, don't we deserve at least a small break before we leave? Let's rest a bit, all recover from…you know, Percy…at least Annabeth anyway."

I nodded, "You're right…but Annabeth looks like she's enjoying herself enough…"

"You know how she is, she hides away her emotions. Let's her pride get in the way, she doesn't want to seem weak so she distracts herself and ignores the problem at hand. You know I've only seen her cry twice the whole time I've known her? When you almost died from that empousa and when Percy died…"

"I get it…I just hope she doesn't change for good…"

"Don't worry so much Neeks, she'll always be our Annabeth. She promised forever remember?" I nodded.

"Okay Thals, thanks…"

She looked ready to reply but a loud horn interrupted her. Soon after, Annabeth and Luke ran over to us, "Hey guys its lunch time! Let's go!" Luke ran off quickly while Annabeth stayed behind a bit.

"What do you guys think? I love it here! My siblings, Luke…they're so…smart! I think I could really fit in," she flashed us a smile. And I almost believed it, almost believed she was genuinely happy. Almost. I could still see Percy's last kiss ingrained in her every move. I wanted her to be happy, I did. But I didn't want to lose my oldest sibling either…

Annabeth took off after Luke leaving me and Thalia in the dust.

"She…looks so happy," Thalia whispered.

"I know…"

"Maybe…maybe this is better for her."

"Thals, you can't say that! We…we have to stick together."

"I know but this is Annabeth. She looked so torn up about Percy…he's dead Nico; we can't do anything about that. Maybe this Luke guy isn't so bad? We'll give him a chance…I think Annabeth deserves to be happy."

I sighed, "Fine. But I get to say I told you so."

She rolled her eyes, "You wouldn't dare." She grinned at me before shocking my arm and running off towards the dining pavilion.

"HEY! That hurt!" I yelled after her.

I ate at Thalia's table, the thunder rumbling like it did when I slept in her cabin, but I guess the big daddy didn't want to offend his little girl. While I was halfway through a meatball sandwich Chiron came up to stand on stage, "Campers, as you know, today is Friday! Which means we will have our weekly Capture the Flag game! Tonight it shall be Ares, Zeus, Apollo, and Demeter versus Hermes, Athena, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Nico. I'll see you guys tonight."

He trotted off of the stage as we all cheered spiritedly. Siblings immediately started discussing plans as me and Thalia grinned at each other.

"They put us on opposite teams," Thalia smirked at me.

"Oh you're going down Pinecone face…" we laughed amiably before finishing our food.

"You want to go train? I want to make sure I'm in tip top shape for tonight's games," I leered at her. "Unless you don't think you can keep up?"

"LET'S GO YOU DORK! I CAN TAKE ON ANYONE!" she stuck her tongue at me. I laughed at her before pulling her over to the sword area.

"C'mon, let's see if we can get you a better weapon…"

"I…I think I'll stick with the sword for now Neeks, it…reminds me of Percy," she looked at the floor.

I looked at her grimly, feeling bad for forgetting, "Yeah, you're right…let's go practice okay?"

She nodded as she grabbed my hand and pulled me away. I followed obediently, pulling out my sword as we got closer to the arena.

By the time we got there we were both fidgeting to start practice. Bypassing the armor we immediately fell into our normal pattern of hitting and swinging. Sparks flew and our swords clacked together loudly, but we flew into a rhythm that no one else could match. Yin yang, day night, light dark, I knew we came together in a passionate opposite that wouldn't be the same without the other. I whirred around, my sword flashing black as it came towards her feet, but Thalia was quick and jumped out of the way. I was vaguely aware that everyone had stopped fighting to watch us, but I didn't care.

My emotions flowed freely, the grief and pain of the past day or so shown through my strokes. I knew Thalia felt the same way; Percy's death had hit her hard as well. Soon I could feel the tears mix with the sweat running down my face as I brought up my sword to block a downward strike from Thals. I gasped as I lost my footing and landed on my butt with an oof. I quickly rolled to the side but Thalia started to swing at me again.

I felt a familiar pull in my gut as the shadows wrapped around me and pulled me out of the swords way. Everyone gasped, for sure that being the first time they saw a child of Hades shadow travel. Thalia growled, "Hey! No fair! You didn't say we could use powers!"

I grinned impishly at her, "I never said we couldn't!"

She laughed, "I'll get you for that!" and we fell back into our rhythm. Another minute or so passed, or at least that was what it felt like, I later figured out we battled for another ten minutes. I rolled across the clearing, my sword angled so it wouldn't stab me and jabbed up at the daughter of Zeus. Her sword crackled with electricity as she threw a ball of electricy at me. I tried to get out of the way but before I knew it I could smell the ozone coming off my shirt. My chest stung painfully as I struggled to sit up. I smiled wryly as I felt the tip of a sword touch the back of my neck.

"I yield…" I laughed heartedly. "What's that now, 250 to 249? Can I never get a good lead on you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course not Neeks, we know each other too well!"

We looked at each other seriously before she put out her hand to pull me up. As I got to my feet I heard the sound of clapping all around us. Tens of people stood around the sword arena looking at the two of us in awe.

I saw Annabeth at the front of the crowd, looking proudly at us. Luke stood a little too close behind her, but I could tell he was impressed. He nodded his head thoughtfully as his blue eyes gazed coldly, almost analytically at me. I shrugged it off, not wanting to bother with the son of Hermes right now. The guy gave me the chills, but Thalia and I were having a moment, I won't let Luke get in the way of that.

I waved Annabeth over to us and she smiled and ran up to us. "You guys were great! Per…Percy would've been proud to call you his students."

At the name of the sea prince everyone hushed up. I could hear them talking about Percy, surprised at his skill in teaching us younger demigods. I knew the camp mourned for him, finding out he was alive after missing for three years only to lose him again. And Sally…I made a mental note to contact her as soon as possible. I wanted to visit her, she was like a mother to the three of us and I knew she wouldn't take the death of her only son easily.

The three of us hugged tightly before we heard the meeting horn blow, signaling the start of the games. Each team would have an hour to set up traps in the forest before the battle began.

The hour ended sooner than I thought and I was itching to fight again, to prove myself to both the camp and my father. I still hadn't been officially claimed, but I was determined for that to happen tonight. Traps littered the ground, and I was careful not to trigger them. The shadows around my feet alerted me about the trip wires and other campers, both my teammates and enemies.

I sighed, breathing in the musky ground. I could hear Chiron approach the clearing before calling out in his clear, deep voice. It resonated across the forest, "Campers! First to get the other team's flag to your side wins! I shall be serving as a battlefield medic and judge, no maiming or killing is allowed. Let the games begin!"

Thanks to the Athena cabin we already had a plan set up; Annabeth and her siblings deduced that Thalia would be the one to guard the flag so I would have to be the one to retrieve it. The Athena and Hermes cabins would round the flank acting as decoys while Dionysus and Hephaestus guarded home base. It was a direct and offensive approach, but I had a feeling we could do it.

I was halfway past the river when I heard the yells and shouts of the battles around me. The defensive groups of the other teams meeting up against the Hermes and Athena cabins. It was quiet around me though, almost too quiet. I slowed down to a walk, silent treading before I looked up. The branches above me were low hanging and wide, I could probably get up there and use it to get to the flag quieter. Thalia wouldn't see it coming. I smirked before hoisting myself up onto the lowest branch. Solidifying the shadows around me I slowly made myself across the lower part of the trees, high above where anyone cared to look. After a bit I finally ran into a few campers; I deduced that they were Apollo's children from the fact that they all carried bows and arrows.

I tried to tip toe across the branches but my foot slipped off of a shadow and landed messily into the leaves causing them to rustle. I cursed under my breath before falling to the floor and pulling out my sword.

I feel into a long duel with a few of them, but when another three campers showed up I knew I couldn't take them all. I glanced around with a wild look in my eye before running into a shadow and traveling far enough away for them to not know where I went.

I looked up from where I had landed to see the other team's flag in all its glory. And right next to it? Thalia. I smirked, "Hey Thals, ready to get your butt whooped?"

"Hah! Are you forgetting who beat you earlier?"

"You forget Who's leading!"

She scoffed, "Yeah, by one!" and she lunged. We fell back into our rhythmic fighting, vaguely aware that the other parts of my team were closing in. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I whirled my way around her.

Suddenly I heard a scream, Annabeth's scream.

"NICO! BEHIND YOU!"

I whipped around to come face to face with an enormous Hellhound. It's red eyes glared at me, its black fur matted and tangled. I readied my sword once again. I looked behind me at Thalia for backup, but paused when I realized there was another Hellhound facing her too. Bile rose in my throat when I realized I couldn't protect both of us from Two Hellhounds. I shook my head, trying to get my head in the game. Thalia could take care of herself, I scolded my heavy conscious. _Just like Percy could…and he died._ I bit my lip, the pain bringing me to the real world.

I looked at the Hellhound in the eye before moving to attack it. My sword hacked at the monsters fur, anger and sadness at Percy's death coming our fully as I wounded the monster again and again. I slashed and dodged and twirled and ducked until the monster yelped and disappeared into a gold dust. I glanced around to realize that Thalia had also killed her Hellhound and Annabeth was in the middle of slaying a third one. We smiled at each other, our silent teamwork that had developed throughout our time in the forest showing.

After a short moment we heard Chiron's hooves cantering across the clearing. As soon as he stepped into the clearing we heard a collective gasp from the campers around us.

"Everyone, Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, and Annabeth Chase have officially been claimed."

The group simultaneously knelt down, even Chiron, for us. We glanced at each other, seeing our parents' insignias above our head.

After a bit people started to stand up and drift away, murmuring about the three of us. I watched as a few Ares campers started to walk away until one of them abruptly turned around. A meaty girl, the one from our first day, walked up to me and poked me in the chest.

"I don't know you pipsqueak. But your tough, I like it," she poked me in the chest hard before sauntering away towards her siblings.

I looked at Thalia questioningly, my eyebrows rose. She shrugged before snickering, "Someone's got an admirerrrrr." She cooed annoyingly. I rolled my eyes before marching off and putting my helmet under my armpit.

It was a pretty quiet night after everyone had cleared out from the games, the winner undecided after the battle with the Hellhounds. I could sense Chiron's unease about the Hellhounds; my limited knowledge about camp told me that monster's were only allowed in if invited, so someone must've let them in. The question was, who? I was lost in thought when I suddenly heard Luke's voice hushed in the distance.

I recalled fuzzily that Luke wasn't there during the end of the game, despite the fact that he was supposed to lead the Hermes cabin on our left flank.

"Yes sir, it worked. They claimed all three of them. Yes sir, it's his son. I understand. Yes sir, if I can't sway him I'll kill him. And the girl? I think I could sway her, or at least break her off from them. Get them to turn, feel betrayed. I don't know sir. It's hard to tell with the other girl, but I will try. Hopefully their loyalty to each other can be used to our advantage."

I hid behind a tree, my heart rate quickening. _Who is he talking to? Is he talking about me and Thalia? This must be what my father was talking about…_

I peaked around the tree again, but Luke was already gone and the IM was fading quickly.

I don't know how long I was sitting against that tree, but eventually Thalia found me.

"There you are, Neeks! I was looking all over for you, Annabeth already went to sleep! Nico? Nico? Nico, are you okay?"

I shook my head, "I…Thals I think Luke is the one that let the Hellhounds into camp…"

"Wha…how?"

"Think about it, did you see him anywhere before the fight? I just saw him IMing someone over there…he was talking about swaying someone to his cause or killing them…I think they were talking about us.

"I…are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am. Something is going on Thalia, and we need to find out why."

She nodded in agreement, "As soon as possible…but Nico we should head to bed. I just talked to Chiron, he got an IM from Poseidon. Percy's father wants to do a memorial for him…tomorrow at sunrise. We need to tell Sally Nico…she should be there. Mr. D said he'd let her in for the day…"

I sighed, knowing this day would come, but I didn't know how exactly I was going to break it to the sweet, gentle woman.

"I…let's do it now Thals, where no one could see." She nodded and pulled out a drachma.

"I got it from your bag, uhm, is there any mist?"

I nodded and grabbed the coin before flipping it into the small rainbow on the floor, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please show us Sally Jackson, Pennsylvania."

A misty oval shimmered into existence, showing Sally who was currently baking blue cookies.

I coughed, making her turn around in surprise.

A face-splitting grin lit up her features, "Nico, Thalia! It's great to see you guys! How have you been?"

"Ah…good…we uh…we made it to camp."

"That's great, I knew you would…where's Percy? And Annabeth? They aren't messing around are they? I'm too young for grandchildren!"

Thalia and I looked at each other, biting our lips. _You might never have grandchildren, I thought sadly._

"Sally…that's…that's why we called. It's Percy…he…he didn't make it."

"What are you talking about? He's somewhere isn't he? Is he lost?"

"Mrs. Blofis…Sally…Percy passed away. He sacrificed himself to save the three of us. He died a hero, fighting Oceanus…there's a memorial for him tomorrow at sunrise. We got permission for you to come…it's at the pier at camp…there wasn't a body."

My heart broke as I watched Sally's eyes. I could see the world fall down around us as she let out a loud wail. Paul burst into the room before grabbing Sally up. His eyes bugged out when he saw us, but I blurted out, "We'll explain later…just….comfort her."

He nodded and started to brush Sally's hair out of her face. He leaned down and kissed her forehead as she started to sob into his chest.

After a bit Sally drifted off into a restless sleep and Paul looked at us, "Explain. Now."

We looked at each other, "Sir…The world you know…there are things out there that you thought were myths and fairytales. What do you know about Greek Mythology?"

"Like Zeus?"

"Yeah…well sir it's all real. The gods, the monsters, all of it. Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and I are all demigods. Half human, and half god. Percy was a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea."

"And...Sally knew all this?"

We nodded.

"And…"

I shook my head, unwilling to explain it again. Thalia touched my arm, "Sir…Your stepson…is dead. He was killed by a Titan, his father's arch enemy Oceanus. I'm…I'm so sorry."

Thalia's voice broke at the end. "There's a memorial at sunrise tomorrow, I suggest you leave soon to make it here in time…Sally will know where to go. We'll meet you at the border of camp."

The IM shimmered out of existence as our time ran out. I looked at Thalia, my eyes wet with tears for the broken-hearted parents and their lost son.

Thalia pulled me into a hug before dragging me away to our cabin. Both of us were upset, but after so long of holding it in for the girls sake I finally broke and sobbed fitfully into Thalia's shoulder.

I didn't recall falling asleep that night, but I didn't have any dreams.

**So I need to know guys, what do you think of the chapter? I don't know if its good... and I know it took forever, but with school starting things got a bit hectic. I'm in sports too…pretty crazy. Anyways, let me know if it was good or not! Can I reach 35 reviews? Do you guys want shorter more frequent chapters that might take 2-3 weeks (1,000-3,000)? Or longer chapters that might take a 5-7 (5,000-8,000)? But this won't be absolute, especially with House of Hades coming out –hearts and stars and swooning commences-**

In the next chapter you'll see the memorial, and the beginning of our demigods' first quest! Stay tuned

**A few of my favorite stories: **

**The Queen's Champion by Anaklusmos 14 (this is a Pertemis story)**

**The Fall of Percy Jackson by Predator Drone (dark!Percy)**

**Son of the Sea God by Sassenach082 **

**Daughter of Poseidon by lakumix (Fem!Percy)**

**Another thing…so my friend is trying to write a story and I posted it for them, check it out, it's called the Great War, you can find it by clicking on my profile :) It's about Jason, Percy and Bianca if they had lived during World War II, it's really interesting so check it out! Here's the summary:**

**Before World War Two the eldest of the gods made no promises about their children, resulting in great wars and an abundance of powerful heroes. When Hades attempts to overthrow Olympus it results in horrible losses, unhealthy alliances, and obstacles that will test the meaning of life, love, and loyalty. AU. Past!PJO universe**


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